ShadowMage
by Imania
Summary: The sequel to 'Cats, Hair and Good Evil Wizards' (I recommend you read that first or you may get slightly confused...) The group go on a journey to defeat Kelke, an evil mage. Chapter Eight slightly altered, everything else the same.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters with the exception of Kelke Peatsar. All the other characters in this story belong to Square.

A/N: I'm back! I won't be updating this as regularly, as I have to actually write it, so... yeah. Well. I hope I have as much fun with this as I did in the first one, and I hope you enjoy it too! Farewell, until the next chapter!

ShadowMage

"Give us a look at your hands."

"You'll hurt me."

"Only if they're not healed properly, which may I add was your fault because you made me take the casts off. Give!"

With a sigh, Magus held his hands out to Lucca. What seemed like ages ago but could only be less than a week, an enemy's dying blow had knocked him out and Flea, who was meant to be unconscious itself, had sent him to Ozzie. The others had come to his rescue but not before Ozzie had broken his hands and cut his hair- and an incredibly evil, rather nasty wizard known as Kelke had made him unable to use magic until Magus personally defeated him. Kelke, who originated from another universe and wanted to be the only evil wizard in both universes, did not like Magus one bit.

"Can you move them for me?" Lucca requested.

Carefully, Magus moved his fingers. Each one hurt when he did so. "Are they meant to hurt like that?"

"At least you can move them. Be happy with that," she responded. "Want to try bending them?"

Bending his fingers was pure agony and he decided that he could but didn't want to. "Are they healing properly or not, then?"

"They're not as bad as they could be. You just have to keep being careful," she told him and went to talk to Crono. "How are we going to get Kelke here? If he doesn't come, we can't grab him, if we can't grab him, I can't take something from him, if I don't have something from him, I can't make a Kelke-finder and we don't go anywhere."

Crono shrugged. "Last time he showed up when we had a picnic. We could have another one..."

"No. No, that'd be total picnic overload," Lucca disagreed. "After that second one we had to make up for the one Kelke stole, I think we're all picnicked out."

"Or a party..."

"_No!_ The one we had for Magus' birthday was more than enough to last me for the next three years. No parties. Maybe a picnic if we get desperate. We just need a way to lure Kelke out to this universe."

"What, you mean like... send Magus off alone so Kelke tries to get him, then ambush the evil evil wizard?"

"Yeah. Something like that," replied Lucca uncertainly. She considered his suggestion. "Crazy as that may seem, it just might work. I mean, if you had an enemy who couldn't defend himself against you or even attack you and he was wandering around without anyone else who could stop you, would you attack him?"

"Yep."

"There you go, we can do that. Hmm... seeing as Kelke came back to steal our original picnic basket, maybe we should send Magus out with a sandwich," Lucca mused. 

"What? Where are you sending Magus?" demanded Magus sharply. "If you're going to be sending Magus out to places where he might get killed, he would like to know!"

Crono explained quite cheerfully. "We need to get Kelke back into this universe so Lucca can get something from him and make a Kelke-finder, so we can find him and avenge our picnic. Oh, and get you able to use magic again. To do that, we're going to send you off alone and follow behind you, so when Kelke shows up to kill you we can grab him. Sound all right to you?"

"Yep, it's all good. Hang on a minute! I don't think so!" But once again, Magus had agreed without thinking about it. With this group, the moment you agreed to a plan you had agreed to it for life. _'However long that is around this lot,'_ thought Magus sourly then remembered he was a good evil wizard now and not allowed to be nasty.

There were nine of them now. Crono, Marle, Lucca, Frog, Robo, Ayla, Magus, Schala and Alfador. Lucca had added a seat to the Epoch but still people had to sit on each other's laps in order to squeeze in. They went off to 1000 AD and parked near Lucca's house before wandering off to Guardia Forest. Crono sent Magus in first to wander around a bit, the others following and hiding themselves every few steps.

After about half an hour Magus wandered casually over to a tree, looked up and said, "Crono, it's not working."

Crono shrugged and almost fell out of the tree. He grabbed a branch to steady himself and looked down at Magus. "I don't know, do a bit of a song and dance about wandering alone in the forest or something."

"Okay." Magus wandered off again, stood a distance away and sang: "I'm a good evil wizard currently unable to use magic wandering around by myself in a forest, probably lost, get over here Kelke you nasty evil evil wizard, don't you want to beat me up?" A little self-consciously, he did a jig that had Crono falling out of the tree and rolling around on the grass, laughing his head off. "This isn't working either! You made me do that so you could laugh at me!" Magus accused. "Get back in your tree before I break both your legs."

Schala dropped gracefully out of another tree to go to him. "Janus, being good means that you can't threaten people and being able to laugh at yourself is a good trait in anyone. Besides-" she sniggered- "you _did_ look rather funny."

She hugged him, shaking with silent laughter. He tolerated it for a while before easing her off gently and complaining, "This isn't going to work! It's never going to work! Kelke _never_ shows up when I want him to, never ever! Not that I ever do want him to show up, but anyway! Whose stupid idea was this?"

On cue there was a black flash and Kelke appeared. White flecks dusted his yellow hair and white robes, flecks that were definitely not dandruff. "You called?" he queried. "Oh, hello Magus. Who are your friends?"

"Schala, Crono, and everyone else," Magus responded and grabbed him. The others removed themselves from their hiding places to help. Alfador sank his teeth and claws into Kelke's leg, but they weren't sure if that was holding him down or trying to rip his flesh off.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Kelke as he was wrestled to the ground, Crono holding one of his arms and Schala the other. "This is most undignified- look, you're not going to defeat me like _this_."

Lucca took out her trusty pair of scissors, snipped off a bit of his hair, and stepped back. "Now what?"

"Now we let him go and run like hell!" Crono suggested. They let him go and ran like hell out of the forest.

Kelke rose to his feet, gazing after them. He was tempted to kill them all now and get them out of the way, but after all, he was looking forward to seeing how long he could make Magus suffer. Also, maybe if he left them alone they'd try to have another picnic and he could steal their food. Kelke was permanently hungry. 

He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and glared accusingly at the warm summer scene around him. He hated the heat with a passion. It was definitely time to return to his nice freezing castle. They would come to him. They would have to if they wanted their wizard to ever be able to use magic again. Confident that they would come and that he would bring about their downfall, Kelke returned to his own universe.


	2. Chapter Two

****

Chapter Two

"Hey Dad," Lucca greeted Taban as she walked past him to fetch some stuff.

"Hey Lucca!" was his warm reply. "What are you doing?"

"Just inventing... stuff. You know. The usual."

"How's Crono?"

"Oh, he's... good. He's breathing. That's always a good sign." She looked over a bench, trying to find a particular spanner.

"So it is," agreed Taban, tightening a bolt on his latest machine. "What about... everyone else?"

"They're... good too. Yep. Absolutely. Have you seen that pretty shiny spanner?"

"You mean the newest one?" Taban held it up.

"Yep, that's the one."

"I've finished with it; you can have it." He threw it to her.

She caught it easily. "Thanks, Dad!"

She had almost made it out of the door when Taban queried, "And what about your friend Janus?"

Lucca stopped dead. "What _about_ him?" she asked carefully and did not turn.

"That's the thing. Lately I've been hearing rumours about you and someone calling himself Magus. Rumours I don't really like."

"Magus, Janus, what's the connection?"

"They describe him as having blue hair. And Janus is the only person I know around here who not only fits that description, but has been with you when the... rumours were set."

"They're just rumours, Dad," she shrugged nonchalantly. "You can't believe a thing you hear."

"That's what I'd like to believe. I know there's something about him that you're not telling me. Who is he, really?"

"Trust me, if I told you, you would accuse _me_ of spreading rumours. I really have to go..."

"Don't you think your father has a right to know about these things?"

"Well... I haven't heard any of the rumours myself, so I can't exactly change what you think right now. I really do have something else that needs to be done-"

"You never talk to us any more," remarked Taban sadly. "Honestly, what's the world coming to when a girl can't even talk to her parents before rushing into things..."

"I have _not_ rushed into anything!" Lucca snapped angrily and walked out.

The others were chatting about something. Crono glanced up as she approached, noted her expression, and queried, "Is something wrong?"

"I suppose _you've_ heard the rumours?" Lucca asked bluntly.

"Um..." He exchanged a desperate glance with Marle. "Maybe."

Lucca glared at Marle as if it were all her fault. "So you're in on it too. Wait, now _I'm_ jumping to conclusions! Okay, let's think about this. Rumours apparently everyone has heard about... Crono! Tell me one!"

Crono blurted out one he could remember overhearing. Magus looked up and raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember doing that..."

"Okay, so they started back at the Fair," Lucca said to herself. "Who could possibly have started them... _Arlen_. Oh, I'm going to have to kill her!"

"What's this?" demanded Magus. "Who's killing who?"

Marle, seeing this as a chance to find out what had happened, asked, "So you can prove that they're just rumours?"

"I should think so. I was there," Lucca answered, sitting next to the Epoch and staring at it as if it would miraculously become able to travel through universes without her having to touch it.

There was a long silence. "Well...?" prompted Frog, who had not heard any of the rumours but was curious to discover what had happened.

Either completely absorbed in her task or plain ignoring them, Lucca leant forwards to start working on the Epoch. The others turned to Magus.

"Don't look at_ me_," the good evil wizard protested. "I didn't do anything. Honest."

"Well, what happened, then?" Crono challenged.

"She cut my hair? I don't remember! What is this, the Zeal Inquisition?"

"Well," began Marle. "You came back to the End of Time wearing different clothes, Lucca's clothes were all messed up, she had grass in her hair, you both looked slightly damp. Forgive us if that makes us doubt that all she did was cut your hair."

"She threw me in the sea," Magus volunteered. He shuddered at the memory. "It was cold."

Crono and Marle exchanged glances. Crono said, "Well, that's a start. What happened after that?"

"She jumped in after me."

"Okay, okay, let's backtrack," said Marle hurriedly. "Why did she throw you in?"

"Because she wanted to cut my hair?"

"That maketh no logical sense," Frog remarked.

"It's _Lucca_," Magus pointed out. "She may be incredibly scientific, but her actions need no logic. It wasn't my fault. I mean, why would I throw _myself_ in?"

Crono sighed. "Right, let's go back to the very beginning. When you left for the End of Time, where did you go?"

"The Millennial Fair," Magus replied instantly.

"What happened_ there_?"

Magus winced. "I kicked a robot."

Crono and Marle exchanged glances again, also trading amused looks with Schala and Frog. "Why," commented Schala softly, "am I not surprised?"

"What happened after that?" Robo asked curiously.

"Um... there was a really irritating girl named Arlen who was rude. Oh, wait, that was before the painful robot. She was pretty painful herself... I don't think she liked me. Then Lucca showed me her transporting thing, and that was pretty, and some little brat demanded to know the importance of winning a war against some stupid wizard four hundred years ago." Magus sniffed and brushed a speck of dust from his cloak. "It was important to _me_."

"So why did the rumours say that you were hugging her then?" asked Marle.

"Well, I kicked the robot."

They exchanged glances again, this time including Robo and Ayla. "What does that have to do with anything?" asked Crono.

Magus shrugged. "It hurt. My foot, I mean. Metal is hard. And it hurts. When you kick it." Having established that point, he patted Alfador and started to ignore them.

"_Magus_!" Marle whined. "You have to keep going!"

"What?" Magus glanced up, annoyed. "Okay, then. After kicking the robot, I was in incredible pain and couldn't walk a step, so Lucca very graciously helped me. I was not hugging her," he declared. "I do not hug. I'm an evil wizard. Damn it, no I'm not. Well, I was back then."

Schala ruined his fun. "Janus, I know you would remember. Cut short the storytelling and please tell us exactly what happened."

Magus sighed. "Spoilsport. None of you ever let me have any fun. Honestly, I hurt my foot. Briefly. After that someone told us there was no-one who would cut hair in Truce so we ditched the fair and came back here. Lucca complained that my hair was dirty so she threw me in the sea and washed it. After that she cut it, and we went back to the End of Time. That's it."

"Then what about the grass?" demanded Crono suspiciously.

Magus looked blank, then his confusion cleared. "Oh, that. Nothing really happened. I raced her back to the house but I cheated, so she nastily pulled me down and we both fell over. She made me change my clothes because I was wet. And dirty. _That_ is it. See? Nothing? Understand?"

Crono and Marle exchanged glances again, then nodded. "I'm satisfied," Crono declared.

"Good to hear it. While we're on this topic... Lucca! Lucca! Notice me notice me!"

Lucca came slowly out of her inventing trace and when she glanced at Magus there was a distant look in her eyes. "What?"

"I'm sick of your father's clothes," Magus complained. "I want my own. Where are they?"

"In the house. Somewhere." Lucca shook herself completely out of her daze to warn, "But I wouldn't go in there. My father heard about the rumours and I don't think he trusts me much any more. He certainly wouldn't react well to you showing up."

"But I want my clothes back."

"You'd be warmer in my father's. No wonder you always complain of being cold, you leave your arms bare."

"I'm sorry, I still live in the past and try to keep up with the fashion in Zeal."

"We've been to Zeal, everyone wore pretty robes."

"Yeah, but it's really hard to get hold of a robe in 600 AD. I had to settle with getting as close as possible," Magus shrugged. "He wouldn't really kill me, would he?"

"I don't know. I've never had these kinds of rumours spread about me before."

He hesitated but asked anyway. "You mean, you _have_ had rumours spread about you before this?"

Lucca shrugged. "Not really. Just some. You know, 'She only cares about her inventions', 'Of course she doesn't have any friends', 'It was _her_ fault that her mother-' well, you know. Just... things like that." She focussed all her attention on the Epoch.

"What happened to her mother?" Magus whispered to Crono.

Crono shrugged. "I don't know. She never talks about it. An accident with an invention, I think."

"Well, I want my clothes, and I'll brave Taban to get them," Magus declared. He walked somewhat nervously into the house.

Taban was reading, but he looked up. "Oh, hello, Janus. Are you here for any particular reason?"

"Um... I want my clothes back," Magus answered.

"I think they're in Lucca's room. Be careful when you go in there, she hasn't cleaned it for about ten years."

"Okay... thanks." Magus found Lucca's room, located his clothes folded neatly on one of the rare clean spaces of the floor and changed into them. Someone had very nicely washed them since he'd last seen them. He went back down the stairs, put Taban's clothes on a chair, and wandered over to Taban to ask curiously, "What are you reading?"

"A history book," announced Taban proudly. He liked reading and he really liked his collection of books.

"History? What year?"

"Oh, it's an abbreviated history of the world for as long as we can work it out."

"Is it, now? Does it have pictures, perchance?" Magus queried cautiously.

"Yep. Of important people."

"Um... I have to go now," Magus blurted and bolted out.

Taban nodded absently, flicked a page, and came face-to-face with a picture of Magus, the evil wizard of 600 AD. He looked up, but Janus had already gone. He looked down at the picture again. It was Janus, with longer hair. So Janus was Magus. Or Magus was Janus... Taban turned back to 12000 BC. There were no pictures, but Schala was mentioned more than once and there was a sentence or two on her younger brother, Janus. Schala, and Janus. So... Janus from 12000 BC was Magus from 600 AD was Janus from 1000 AD. (So his daughter was keeping the company of an evil wizard, he thought suspiciously but forgot that in this mystery.) And how had he gone through all of those ages? Well, the answer was all too obvious.

Taban put the book down and went outside to check his suspicions.

"Help!" Magus shrieked the instant he was outside. "Lucca, your father has a history book! With _pictures_! He'll work out who I am! Hide me, hide me!" He scurried behind the Epoch and threw himself to the ground. "Don't let him get me!"

Taban wandered outside and said, "_Time_ travel?"

Lucca squeaked. She cleared her throat, tried again. "Time travel? That's not possible! Not just yet."

"Then how did Janus get from 12000 BC to 1000 AD, with a stop in 600 AD?" Taban queried.

From behind the Epoch, Magus wailed. "He knows everything! _Damn_ these smart people!"

"Twelve thousand BC?" Crono demanded with a forced laugh. "What makes you think Magus started there?"

"So he really is Magus," Taban mused. "Thought so. You see, in the history book it mentions Schala, heir to the throne of Zeal, who apparently had fantastical magic powers, and her step-brother Janus."

"Is _that_ all I got?" demanded Magus, annoyed, as he rose to his feet with some indignation.

"Fantastical magic powers," Schala mused, neatening her robe. "I kind of like it."

Meanwhile, the others were looking from Schala to Magus and back again. It was Marle who demanded, "Step-brother?"

"Now _that_," said Schala with a sigh, "is a rumour which definitely became out of control. It's not true. At least I don't think so. You see? You never can really believe what you hear..."

Taban nodded. "Right. Lucca, how did you manage to travel through time?"

"I don't know, we didn't do it, maybe it was Schala's fantastical magic powers that zapped them both here," said Lucca with an obviously forced laugh, rising and leaning over the Epoch. "Time travel? As if..."

"They just showed up," Crono told him, wandering over to Lucca.

"Yeah, we just... arrived," Schala agreed, making her journey over to the Epoch look very casual indeed.

All of them muttering about how Schala and Magus had just appeared and that Schala had done it using magic, the eight of them and Alfador wandered over to the Epoch to stand in front of it, trying to hide it from view. Judging by Taban's expression, it was actually quite disturbing.

"Um... okay," he said finally and got the hell out of there.

Lucca sighed and slid down the Epoch to sit on the grass. "Thank God. If there is one."

"Maybe we should thank the Entity," Magus remarked, running a hand absently over the Epoch's smooth surface.

Schala shook her head. "No need to thank the Entity. Lucca, what are you planning to do with the Epoch?"

"I don't know," Lucca answered. "I wanted to adapt it to travel between universes, but I don't know _how_. Maybe we'll need my father... we'll have to tell him about the time travel, and Lavos, and everything. Crono..." She looked at him pleadingly.

"Does that look mean you want me to tell him, you don't want me to tell him, you want me to not want to tell him... I'm getting confused!" Crono admitted. "Please, give me something to work on here!"

"If we want to go and defeat Kelke, we'll need my father," Lucca sighed. "I'll go and get him."


	3. Chapter Three

****

Chapter Three

"Not _that_ spanner, the other one," Taban instructed.

"You mean this one?" Lucca handed it to him.

"Yep." Taban tightened a bolt, struggled out from under the Epoch, and looked around. "I think that's it."

Lucca got to her feet and studied their handiwork. It had taken them several days but the task of modifying the Epoch was finally completed. She glanced around at the others, arranged in various positions of sleep. As the Epoch had been nearing completion they had chosen to watch politely, but when Lucca and Taban agreed to work through the night the others had gradually, one by one, wandered off a little way and fallen asleep.

Taban regarded his daughter fondly and with a smile said, "Lucca, look at you."

"What?" She glanced down somewhat self-consciously at her grease-spattered clothes.

"You're dirty," he pointed out. "Not only do you have grease in your hair, but you have a big black streak on your face."

"Yeah, well you're not too clean yourself," she responded with a grin. "Now that this is done, we may as well go and get cleaned up. And... thank you for helping us."

"Anything for you," Taban replied honestly. As they started to wander back towards the house he put an arm around his daughter's shoulders and pulled her close. "If ever I hear any rumours about you again, I'll get the story from you first."

"I'm glad you believed me." Not long before they finally finished, and taking advantage of everyone else being asleep, Lucca had explained to her father the origin of the rumours and how untrue they were.

Taban smiled to himself. "And if you really want to fall in love with an evil wizard from the past, I'll learn to live with it."

"Dad! He's not evil any more!" she protested, holding the door open for him. She had been wondering how they would manage to find their way back to their own universe and as she watched her father walk by she was beginning to work out a way. "Hey, could I possibly have a bit of your hair...?"

Crono was the first to wake. He glanced around to first locate Marle, then checked off the others of the group. He didn't see Lucca. Maybe she was in the house, resting. How late had she and Taban been up, working on the Epoch? At least past midnight, which was when Crono had drifted off to sleep.

At that moment Lucca walked out of the house, clean, cheerful, and absolutely exhausted. "It's done," she announced. "The Epoch can now travel through universes. Wake everyone up, we may as well get started."

"No, I think you should get some rest," Crono disagreed, rising to his feet. "How long have you been awake?"

"Oh, I'll get some rest on the trip," she shrugged.

"Lucca..." He went to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Lucca, how long?"

"Since we started working on the Epoch," Lucca admitted finally. "It's no biggie, Crono. It's not like I haven't stayed awake for a couple of days before."

"You're amazing. You really are. But I can't take you into a potentially dangerous situation without all your wits about you," Crono replied. "Besides, we might need you, and I don't want you being unable to think. What's that you're holding?"

She unfolded her fingers, showed him the lock of orange hair resting on her palm. "Dad's hair. I can make a Taban-finder now, something which will hopefully lead us back to our own universe."

"You really have thought of everything," said Crono with great admiration. "You try to get some rest. You can even go and sleep in your own bed, if you want. We'll wait for you."

"No, I'll sit here and rest. But I won't go to sleep," Lucca warned, sitting down and leaning against a tree.

"I'll get someone to look after you."

"I don't need a caretaker," she murmured drowsily, her eyes already closing.

Crono threw all caution to the wind and went to wake up Magus. As Lucca had been way too busy the wizard had used Schala as a hot water bottle instead for the past few nights.

"Wake up!" Crono shouted at him and poked him.

"What?" demanded Magus, sounding a bit sleepy.

"Go and keep Lucca company. She's tired, and she needs someone to sleep on."

"Hey, well you've come to the right person, I'll sleep with her anytime," Magus answered and wandered off.

"I hope," said Crono to himself, "that he didn't mean that the way it sounded. No, he's probably just half-asleep. At least, I really hope so." There was pressure on his feet and a purr, and he looked down. "Alfador, get off my- oh. Sorry, Schala."

Schala's only response was to purr more loudly. She had curled up on Crono's feet. After the Ocean Palace disaster she had transformed herself into a cat similar to Alfador and, having been drained therefore lacking the magic to turn herself back, she had stayed as a cat until a magical experiment by the main group turned her back into Schala. She still acted very much like a cat at times. Crono wasn't sure how she managed to purr, but she could definitely do it.

"Schala, wake up," Crono ordered, moving his feet gently.

"I'm awake." She stretched and yawned like a cat before rising gracefully to her feet. "Have Lucca and Taban succeeded in modifying the Epoch?"

"I believe so," Crono replied. "They were up all night apparently, so I'm trying to make Lucca rest a bit before we go off on another adventure. She's over there." He pointed.

"Isn't that cute?" asked Schala with delight. 

Even Crono had to admit that the scene, Lucca and Magus leaning on each other both asleep, was almost cute. "I still don't know if I like him being around her so much."

"If he treats her badly, I'll beat him up in behalf of all of you." Schala crossed her arms and leaned closer to hiss, "And if you try to separate them, I'll just have to work around you."

Crono nodded. "I had a feeling you wanted something like this to happen."

"Absolutely," Schala replied. "I have plans for everything."

"Such as?"

"Can't tell you," answered Schala with a grin, shaking her head. She hesitated. "I suppose... would it be too much... could I ask you a favour?"

"What?"

"I understand if you don't want to. I mean, it'd be a pretty strange request, but..."

"Schala, what do you want?"

"Well..." She hesitated again before asking, "Could you possibly scratch me behind my ears? It's not the same if I do it myself."

It was a strange request, but Crono complied until Marle woke up and demanded, "What are you doing?"

"It was my fault," Schala admitted, opening her eyes and moving away. "Just a remnant from my days as a cat. What, worried I'd try to move in on your man? I can see why you go for him, but he's yours."

"I should _think_ so," Marle muttered darkly.

Crono looked from one to the other. "Have I just missed something?"

"Why don't we wake the others?" suggested Schala, moving to do just that.

"Is it finished?" Frog asked, gazing at the Epoch. "Is it designed now to move between universes?"

"What, so eager to battle Kelke?" queried Magus from his position near the tree. He had an arm around Lucca, who was dead to the world. "I don't know exactly what they did and I have no chance of understanding, but it sure tired her out."

"We wait for Lucca, then fight Kelke?" demanded Ayla, bouncing up and down. "Ayla no like Kelke! Want beat him up!"

"Don't we all," Magus muttered.

"We don't know _how_ to defeat Kelke," Marle pointed out.

"As he is a magical person, I would presume we must use magic to defeat him," Robo replied. "As he believes he is strong enough to murder Magus... I would presume we need _strong_ magic."

"That's not really useful," Crono replied with a sigh. "Thanks anyway, but... the only people we have with the necessary experience with magic are Schala and Magus. Schala's been drained, Magus can't use magic. Between the rest of us, our strongest attacks are... what, Triple Kick, Shock, Flare, Frog Squash, Ice2 and Luminaire? I'm sorry, Marle, but I don't think you'd be particularly effective in this battle working by yourself. Robo and Ayla can't use magic... face it, we're screwed."

"What about an eight person tech?" Marle responded. "That could work."

"Also, about Magus' inability to use magic and the fact that he has to deal the final blow to Kelke to regain his magic," Schala began. "I have an idea. What if we can teach him a dual tech with everyone, one that involves everyone else using magic. Everyone has to be able to do it so no matter who else is left they can do the tech with him. We should also be able to start it just before we die, or pass out, or whatever it is that happens." She paused. "You know about the sickle?"

"Yes," groaned Marle and Frog.

"Hey, guys! Shh," Magus cautioned. "You'll wake Lucca."

"I think yours was a good idea," Crono said to Schala. "We'll do that, then. Magus! Get over here!"

"But I can't leave Lucca," the wizard protested. "I might wake her up."

"Lucca is practically unconscious, she wouldn't wake up if you dropped the telepod on her," Marle told him. "Get over _her_!"

"I'll just settle for you agreeing to do this," Crono sighed. "After all, we're helping you."

"True. You don't have to go and fight Kelke," Magus noted. "Unless you want revenge for the picnic. You have a point, I must admit." With obvious reluctance he went to stand with them. "So have you worked something out without telling me?"

Crono explained, Magus agreed, and they tried it out. Amazingly, Frog and Magus did it perfectly the first time and continued to get it right when everyone else made them try it again to prove that it wasn't a fluke.

In theory, it was simple. The person using magic focussed on Magus' sickle and hopefully put water or ice or lightning or whatever on the blade, and he attacked innocent air with it. Crono managed it eventually, it took Schala a bit longer. Marle iced Magus instead and he complained loudly for several minutes afterwards.

"Can I have another go?" Marle asked hopefully.

He glared at her. "_No_!"

"What are you doing?" queried Lucca from the tree, stretching. She had been woken by the commotion and Magus' complaints.

"Working out ways Magus can chop up Kelke and use magic," Crono explained brightly. "Frog, Magus, why don't you show her?"

"I can't," Magus answered. "My fingers have frozen solid."

"Stop complaining, you big wimp!" Marle scolded. "It was an accident. Really, it was."

"I do not enjoy working with the wizard," Frog grumbled.

"Yeah, well the wizard doesn't really like working with any of you either," Magus retorted, hefting the sickle. His fingers seemed to have miraculously recovered. "Are you ready, or what?"

They showed Lucca, who seemed to think it was a good idea. Crono persuaded Magus to let Marle have another go. Seven goes later they had it worked out. While Lucca was in the process of waking up properly they began to see if it could be done when the other person was on the verge of passing out. Ayla volunteered to hit them. Once again, Frog and Magus did it perfectly, although they had to wait for Frog to come 'round before they could ask him about it. This led to another lot of disasters and complaints.

"Ow!" Marle exclaimed, glaring at Ayla. "That _really_ hurt! How come you get to hit us? I think we should each get to hit you at least once, and then _you_ can see how it feels!"

"Ayla only doing job," protested Ayla, but she was trying to suppress a grin. She didn't want to hurt her friends but she found it rather amusing. "Crono have try?"

That produced another problem. Fifteen minutes later Magus leaned on his sickle and sighed. "Crono, I hate to be the one to point this out, but you're going to have to let her hit you."

"I can't just stand there and let her do that!" Crono protested, evading Ayla again. "It goes against everything I've been taught!"

Ayla gave up. "Maybe we do later. Who else?" she asked.

"Can I give it a go?" Lucca asked. "I mean the first bit. Not the part where Ayla gets to hit me," she clarified quickly.

"May as well," Magus shrugged. "I think everyone else is getting sick of it. I can't think why. It's not hurting _me_..."

Schala, who was rubbing her head with a grimace, glared at him. "I think we should all get to hit_ Magus_."

"No fair!" he protested. "I didn't suggest it!"

Lucca changed the subject. "How are your hands?"

"Cold, but I can move them," Magus answered, then remembered. "Oh. They're healing. And they're not healing all crazy, either. I _knew_ it was safe to take those cast things off. Well? Shall we give this a go?"

The first time she tried, she only succeeded in singeing his hands. They made him stick his hands in the sea for ten minutes, then Lucca tried it again. She set the handle of the sickle alight, but Frog dumped some water on it and it wasn't damaged. The third time, Lucca set Magus on fire and Frog dumped water on him. He wasn't badly burned at all but he complained a lot.

"I'm sorry," said Lucca meekly when he paused for breath. "Can I try it again?"

"_No_!" he exclaimed. "Absolutely not! Never ever! I swear you tried to kill me, and now I'm wet! And _cold_!"

"You could be burnt to a crisp," Marle pointed out. Alfador meowed in agreement.

Magus glared at the cat and ordered, "You can just keep out of this."

"Maybe we'll work on it when we're in the other universe," Crono suggested with a tolerant smile. "Do we have the Kelke-finder?"

"No," Lucca replied. "I'll go back to the End of Time and get it."

While she was gone, the others took the opportunity to try the sickle thing again. Eventually Crono, Schala and Marle could get it right before they passed out. Frog still did it perfectly every time. Lucca returned with the Kelke-finder and the eight of them, with Alfador, managed to squish into the Epoch. Lucca had to steer, as no-one else knew how to work the Kelke-finder.

Continuously referring to the Kelke-finder, she set the controls carefully and asked, "Everyone ready?" before pressing the 'go' button.

They were used to the time-travel thing now, although it still made Schala feel a bit sick. This was different. They seemed to be travelling through a rainbow cylinder, the colours lines which stretched far ahead into the distance. Then the lines began to move, revolving around them until they couldn't tell if the cylinder was turning over and over or if they were, or maybe both. Their speed increased until a bright flash of white blinded them all, and then there was nothing.


	4. Chapter Four

White. White everywhere. All around, except for up which was grey. Schala blinked and looked around, but the whiteness didn't go away. After a while she realised that it was because she was lying in the snow. Was this Zeal? No, it couldn't be. She remembered the white specks on Kelke's clothing and hair. So his universe was cold. That made sense, in a way. Magus hated the cold. Kelke hated the heat.

She struggled to her feet. Her head hurt. Why? There was no time for that, she had to see if everyone else was still alive. Over there, that redness was Crono's hair. She went to him to see if he was alive. He appeared to be unconscious. She knew that wouldn't do, so she revived him. 

He sat up and blinked at her."It's all white."

"It's snowing," she explained patiently. "Are the others around here?"

"They should be." He looked around, pointed the Epoch out to her. "Did we crash-land or something?"

"Maybe. Do you think the Epoch still works?"

"I hope so. Let's go and wake up everyone else." He went to Ayla, who was lying nearby, and shook her awake. "Are you all right?"

"Ayla cold," she whimpered.

"Oh, you poor girl, you'd be colder than anyone. Except maybe Magus, who just can't take it," mused Crono. "Just try to keep moving, and we'll see what can be done about it. Maybe if we find a village or something...?" 

The next of the group he found was Frog, who woke himself up. "Mine head hurts," groaned the frog man, blinking. "Did we crash-land here? It is white. Is it snowing?"

"It seems to be," Crono answered.

Frog blinked again, looked at something. "Should Robo ought to be smoking like that?"

Crono studied the prone robot carefully. "No... Schala, find Lucca!"

"One step ahead of you," Schala answered. She was already crouching next to Lucca. "Wake up! We already need you."

Lucca put a hand to her face, then groped in the snow around her, a fruitless search. Schala helped her look but eventually shook her head. "No, I can't find them."

"I'm blind," wailed Lucca desperately.

"Um... now isn't a good time to tell you this, but Robo's having problems," Schala said meekly.

"What do you expect me to do about it?" snapped Lucca. "I can't see anything! I'd blow him up by mistake!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but... could you try?" Schala pleaded.

"I... I suppose I've poked around in him enough to have a go at it," answered Lucca miserably, rubbing her eyes. 

Schala led her over to Robo and left her there momentarily to go and talk to the others, who were standing in a shivering little group. Crono had roused everyone, even Magus, who looked too cold to complain. 

"I see the cold has frozen your lips shut," Schala greeted him with a fond grin. "_That's_ going to make life easier."

Magus glared at her but said nothing. After a moment he smiled good-humouredly. Crono was relieved that he'd remembered he was a good evil wizard now, not an evil evil one, and had learned to take jokes. He was especially happy that Magus was getting used to being teased. This little group tended to make jokes about each other all the time.

Then he glanced at Ayla, who was slowly but surely turning blue. "Does anyone know how we can keep Ayla warm?" he asked the group in general, going over to the scantily dressed prehistoric woman and trying to think of a way.

Magus sighed, unpinned his cloak, and held it out to her. Crono watched him warily for a moment, then took it with a slightly suspicious, "Thank you."

"I'll have it back if you don't want it," Magus said acidly, folding his arms. "I'll just turn into an iceblock, but _she'll_ freeze to death."

Ayla wrapped the cloak around herself and smiled at him. "Much thanks."

"Don't you hold this against me," the good evil wizard warned darkly. "I think this snow's frozen away the last of my sanity..."

"You never had any," said Marle cheekily. "Anyhow, you're meant to be a good wizard these days. That was very nice of you."

"Nice!" Magus repeated with some disbelief and proceeded to ignore her. "Hey, what's Lucca doing to Robo?"

"You want to come over here and have a go?" demanded Lucca, pulling at a wire. "Ow! Shit!" She stuck her singed fingers in her mouth.

The others stared at her. "I didn't know you even _knew_ any swear words," said Crono after a while.

Lucca glared somewhat vaguely at the mass of wires she could only dimly see before her. She grabbed one, pulled, and wrapped it around another. With a jerk Robo came back to... well... animation.

"Are you fixed?" Lucca asked him gently.

"The moon is cheese!" was Robo's reply.

With a sigh Lucca tried a different wire. "How about now?" She couldn't even translate what the robot said, but clearly she hadn't fixed him just yet. She yanked out a few more wires and touched others together.

"Destroy all humans," growled Robo nastily.

"That one's _not_ right!" yelped Crono with some alarm.

Lucca quickly disconnected the wires, then with a sigh leaned back. "I can't do it. There are so many wires, and they were all rearranged in the impact anyway. I don't know what to do!"

"Told you, you needed rest," muttered Crono.

Lucca looked in the direction from which his voice had come and snarled, "Don't you tell me what I should do!"

"Lucca, Lucca. Calm down," Schala advised gently and knelt down beside her. "There are seven wires here I can see. There's a blue one wrapped around a yellow one, a green one, a silver one, a pale yellow one and a red one in a bunch, and a black one and a gold one barely connected."

For some crazy reason this reminded her of the time-travelling group. "I don't know, but let's try this. Keep the blue one and the yellow one together. Put... um... the gold one with the main group. I mean the other wires. Take out... the red one, and make it touch the black wire."

Schala followed her instructions. Robo buzzed into movement. "Greetings, Lucca and Miss Schala!" was the first thing he said.

"You don't have to call me that," Schala scolded lightly. "Just 'Schala' is fine. Lucca, you're amazing!"

"I know," replied Lucca with false modesty.

"Are you long or short sighted? How much can you see?"

"Short sighted, and about... four centimetres ahead of me," Lucca replied. "Approximately."

"That's not really convenient now, is it? Okay... I'm going to try something." Schala began to softly chant. Her pendant glowed, this unearthly glow reflecting in Lucca's eyes for a moment then fading away.

Lucca blinked. "What did you _do_?"

"Your lens are too strong," explained Schala. "They focus too much. I just made them a bit weaker. I don't think it's perfect..."

"No, I can't see perfectly," Lucca agreed. "I can see a lot more than I could before, though. _You're_ the amazing one!"

"Speaking of chants," Marle remembered and turned to Magus. "What came next?"

Magus looked blank. "Next in what?"

"In your chant! To summon Lavos. You know, neuga, zeiga, zeiber, zom..."

"Hey! Don't say that _too_ loudly!" cautioned the good evil wizard. "Don't quote me on this, I've never had a particularly good memory. It went... it went 'neuga, zeiga, zieber, zom, now the chosen time has come, exchange this world for...' Damn! I can never remember that bit. That's why I couldn't do it. I could never remember that damned chant."

Schala sighed with fond exasperation and rolled her eyes.

"Okay!" Crono clapped his hands together. "We need to find Kelke."

"Find me?" repeated Kelke with delight. "Oh, I like the sound of that!"

"Can you stop suddenly appearing?" Crono demanded of the evil evil wizard.

"No. I like to add a little excitement to your lives. I'll look forward to meeting all of you in battle... _if_ you can find my castle." Kelke studied Schala _very_ carefully, so carefully it made her uncomfortable.

"What?" demanded the Princess of Zeal nervously. "Stop looking at me like that!"

"Ever thought of becoming the Queen of Darkness?" Kelke asked her seriously.

There was a horrified silence. Finally Magus came to terms with it and forced himself to understand what Kelke was implying. He gave an exclamation of disgust and hatred, snatched his scythe and moved as if he would attack the evil evil wizard.

Kelke extended his arms, crossed them at the wrist. His hands flashed blue and a sudden torrent of rain pounded the wizard. "Would any of you care for the same?" queried Kelke calmly. "I could extend it to you all, if you'd like."

He did it anyway, then briefly surveyed his handwork. "Excellent. Now, unless you freeze first, I'll see you in my castle... and please, make it sometime in the next ten years. I _do_ have other things to destroy," he said reproachfully and disappeared.


	5. Chapter Five

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry about the late chapter! I won't be updating for the next week or so because I have exams at school and I'll be too busy stressing... this is a short chapter too, but it's the best I can do for now! Sorry!

****

Chapter Five

Magus was too angry to complain about being cold and wet. "I'll kill him!" he vowed. "I'll kill him before he gets his hands on Schala!"

"I'll kill _myself_ before he gets his hands on me," Schala agreed fervently. 

"How are your hands?" Lucca asked Magus.

"Healing. They're fine," Magus shot back. "Well, Mr. I Am The Leader How Can You Miss Me I Have Red Hair Three Miles High, where do we go now?"

Crono thought about saying, "Would _you_ like to lead?" in return to this but he decided that Magus might take him up on his offer. "We try to find a town and hope that someone can tell us how to get to Kelke's castle," he shrugged.

"Where is... where's Alfador?" Magus demanded.

It was Marle who heard the pitiful little "Meow..." down by her feet. Alfador, half hidden in snow, looked thoroughly miserable. She scooped up the cat. "Magus? I found him."

"Oh, thank you!" Magus cried and snatched the cat away from her.

"Did you just say 'thank you'?" Marle asked him suspiciously.

"No, I asked you to go jump in a lake," Magus snarled back and, cuddling Alfador close to his chest, stroked the animal gently. "Hey Alfador, I'm sorry... I know it's cold, but everything's going to be fine. Well, it had _better_ be!"

"May I enquire for what reason we stand and talk when we ought to have embarked on our quest some minutes ago?" Frog broke in.

"Oh, of course!" Crono exclaimed. "What am I thinking of, just standing here? Let's go!"

"I hate to risk being a voice of reason," began Lucca, "but what are we going to do with the Epoch? If we just leave it here we could very well lose it under snow if this weather keeps up. Or it could be stolen, or it might... just explode."

"Do mechanical things you touch tend to just... explode?" asked Crono suspiciously.

Lucca shrugged cheerfully. "At times."

Wordlessly everyone eyed Robo, who began to buzz in a somewhat disturbed manner. 

"Oh, don't be silly, _Robo_ won't explode," Lucca assured them, absently rubbing her eyes. "The technology in the future is just too advanced for me to really screw up. I'll get it one day, trust me."

"Please don't," Marle requested. "Okay, in which direction to we go?"

"I have a good feeling about that way!" Crono responded and pointed in a direction.

"You mean the one that has a great big cliff at the end?" asked Magus sarcastically. "Let's go _that_ way," he decided, indicating some other direction.

"No, I like _this_ one," Schala argued, pointing somewhere else.

"Excuse me-" Lucca tried to break into what was going to be an argument but found herself ignored.

"No! I chose a direction before you!" Magus complained. "We _always_ have to go your way!"

"I'm older, and therefore I'm always right," Schala responded primly, folding her arms. "Anyway, your way is _stupid. Everyone_ knows that north is better than west."

"I _like_ west," Magus sulked.

"You _would_. We're going north!"

"Hah! You can follow those mammoth things north, but I am going west! Who's with me?" Magus appealed to the others.

"I don't want to go north or west," Crono announced.

"You don't count!" Schala and Magus replied in unison.

"Right, that's _it_!" Marle exclaimed. "_How_ can we expect to defeat Kelke, or even _find_ him, if we just argue all the time? We should have _one_ person who chooses a direction. I think it should be Crono, and the rest of you had better choose Crono too!"

"You _would_," muttered Magus darkly.

"_Magus_! Let Crono make the decisions!" Lucca ordered.

"Yes, Lucca. Sorry, Lucca," was the timid reply.

Crono smiled at all of his friends, sending an especially warm smile Marle's way. He was lucky, he decided, to have both Lucca and Marle in the group. With that princess authority Marle could control everyone when things became really out of control and Crono couldn't be bothered, and Lucca had a strange ability to control Magus. He was still a little concerned about that.

"Okay, quit it with all the lovey-dovey pathetic gazing into each other's eyes thing," Magus snarled. "Where are we going?"

"And what are we doing with the Epoch?" Lucca added.

Crono realised he'd been smiling at Marle just a little too long and averted his gaze. "Um. Well. I guess we go east and try to find a town, then ask around to see if anyone knows where Kelke might be. About the Epoch... Lucca, I really don't know. Can't we just leave it here? No-one will steal a bright yellow damaged flying thing, will they? No-one ever has before."

"In our universe," Frog added. "No-one has stolen the Epoch in our _own_ universe but we cannot speak for the inhabitants of this one. Especially considering that from this place Kelke originates."

"Let's just leave it here," Lucca decided with a sigh. "If it gets stolen, just don't blame me for it."

They wandered around aimlessly for a while before they found a village. They asked for directions to get to the inn and while Schala checked them in Crono asked the man behind the counter about Kelke's castle, but that led to problems of its own.


	6. Chapter Six

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm really sorry that I haven't updated for a long time! Just my own general slackness getting in the way, and I'm having a case of writer's block with this story. I know what happens in the end, but I'm having trouble getting them to Kelke's castle. Any ideas? Please?

****

Chapter Six

"Kelke?" asked the man with a frown. He thought briefly, shook his head. "Never heard of him."

"Kelke Peatsar?" Crono pressed anxiously. "Blonde, little bit taller than Magus here..." Crono held up a hand to show the man how tall he estimated Kelke to be. "He's an evil wizard! He's apparently the most evil wizard in this universe?"

"No, sorry, we don't have any evil wizards here. Well, not that I know of," shrugged the man. "Derron, give the pretty lady the keys already," he instructed the tall thin man who was glaring at Schala. "She doesn't have to sign for them in her own blood, you know. This is an _inn_, the _purpose_ is to rent the rooms out... oh, I'll do it. Derron, go talk to Cookie. I presume you'll want a meal tonight?" the man asked them, his eyes flicking from Schala to Lucca to Ayla to Marle and back to the man called Derron. "Tell Cookie we have guests for dinner."

Derron nodded and, with a final glare at Schala, went into some back room. The man - Crono never did find out his name - went to a drawer and tossed Schala some keys. "There you go, two rooms for the night. You might try Tarreiz if you're looking for a magical person," he called to Crono. "Lives at the south end of the village, Tarreiz does," and with that the man followed Derron to wherever he had gone.

"Okay," said Schala in a tone of voice that indicated that there would be no arguing. "Magus, Lucca, Alfador and myself will be in one room. Crono, you, Marle, Frog, Robo and Ayla will be in the other. You may be a little squished but you should be fine, put Robo up against a wall or something, you'll be right."

"How come _you_ get to say who rooms with who?" Crono demanded.

"Because I said so."

"That's not fair!"

Schala tossed her hair over her shoulders and gave him a stern Look. "Because I happen to be the heir of the throne of Zeal... although at the moment the throne of Zeal is at the bottom of the ocean, and I don't mean in the underwater palace... and I possess enough power in my little fingernail to destroy you." She thought for a moment. "How did that sound? Do you think that was a pretty good reason?"

"It was fairly good, but I'd leave out the bit about the throne being underwater," Magus advised.

"I wasn't _asking_ you," his sister snapped back. "And anyway, because I'm older than you, so there. Now. We'll have a nice little night at this inn, and then we'll go and talk to whoever Tarreiz is. Okay?"

Everyone nodded. Crono was technically the leader of the group - well, he decided where they were going anyway - but Marle knew that if Schala said something was going to happen, it would happen. She had a very forceful personality.

Food was provided for them and the man named Derron seemed very determined to make them eat it. "May as well eat something," Schala shrugged, sitting down at the longest table with her plate. The others joined her. Marle in particular looked doubtful at the food that had been supplied and Schala glared at her. "_Eat_."

Lucca was somewhat reluctantly lifting a forkful of... whatever when she felt something cold brush against her neck and jumped. Schala looked up and Magus, seated across the table, dropped his fork.

"What?" Crono demanded. "Something about the black wind?"

Magus muttered something about being clumsy as he retrieved his fork. Schala pointed hers at Crono. "It was nothing. Just eat the food that those men so nicely gave us, okay? We don't know if we're going to get any food when we go and find Kelke."

Crono ignored her to look with some concern at Lucca. "You all right?"

"Not used to it, is all," Lucca explained somewhat guiltily, rubbing the back of her neck. Schala had explained to her that people close to those who felt the black wind could sometimes feel it too. Lucca didn't at all mind being close to Magus, but she wasn't too fond of the black wind that apparently came with him. Ah well, everything has a catch.

Ayla had no such forebodings about the food. She ate hers, most of Marle's, Lucca's leftovers, and the bits that Schala couldn't identify and therefore wasn't going to eat. Lucca was amazed to see the prehistoric woman eyeing Magus' mostly untouched meal.

Schala asked the once-evil-now-attempting-to-be-good wizard, "What's wrong with it?"

"My fork's dirty," Magus explained, laying it carefully down on the table and not looking up.

"Janus," said Schala gently. "If you have a concern about something, you really ought to share it with the rest of us. We're all part of the team now."

"I don't like these people," Magus admitted, looking up. "They have... I don't know, a bad feel about them." He tried a smile (that failed). "Maybe it's just because they're from Kelke's world. Maybe I'm just prejudiced. It's probably nothing."

Crono wasn't so sure. If something was unsettling Magus that much, then it would need careful consideration. Nothing of note happened at all that night and when they retired to their rooms, he fell asleep quite easily.

Magus didn't manage to get to sleep quite so easily. Schala had suggested that he and Lucca share the double bed, a suggestion with which he was quite happy to oblige. Lucca had put her gun on the table, gotten into the bed and fallen asleep almost instantly. He knew Schala was asleep too, and wondered how they could just get to sleep so easily when it was _cold_.

There was a noise in the next room and he was instantly alert. What was happening over there? He faintly heard unfamiliar voices talking. Now why was that? He _knew_ that Crono and the others were in that room, and none of their voices sounded like that.

"Alfador?" he whispered, and was given a soft _meow_ in response. Magus got out of the bed, looked around for his cloak, remembered he'd lent it to Ayla, and reached for his scythe. Wait. Maybe that wouldn't be the best of weapons in this scenario. He went for Lucca's gun instead. He didn't exactly know how to use it but maybe it'd be more intimidating. Then he thought again and positioned the scythe where he could grab it quickly if he needed to fight.

The door opened to a voice grumbling, "Well, _you_ can carry 'em to the market in Synalair," and then Magus recognised Derron, entering the room with a sack.

"What are you doing?" the wizard demanded, but Derron dropped what he was carrying - it hit the floor with an audible _thump_ - and ran away. Magus followed him, falling down the unfamiliar stairs in the dark. By the time he sorted out which foot was which and how to get to the front room of the inn, he found the front door open but no one in sight. He ran out onto the dark street but couldn't see anyone. Returning to the room, he went to look in the sack and found Ayla, looking quite comfortable and fast asleep. The previously evil wizard took his scythe along for the ride as he went to the other room to check his suspicions.

The room looked very peaceful. Crono was snoring on one of the double beds, Frog lying on his back on the other, Robo propped against a wall. No sign of Marle.

Instinctively knowing that trying to wake the others would be useless, Magus went to kick Robo, who being a robot wouldn't have eaten anything. "Wake up, you useless lump of malfunctioning metal!"

"Good evening, I am pleased to see you too," Robo remarked. "What is the matter?"

"I think Marle's been kidnapped," Magus explained, scanning the room. "They put some kind of drug in the food to make everyone fall asleep and I think they were going to kidnap all the girls. One of them mentioned some kind of market. I tried to follow them but he knew this place better than I do and the stairs... anyway, he mentioned a place called 'Synalair'. We have to get there and get Marle back."

"Loyalty to the team, Magus?"

"Not exactly," Magus responded, shifting the scythe from one hand to the other. They still hurt a bit, but at least he could use them. "Crono will be useless with worrying about her if we don't fetch her and I want to find Kelke quickly to make him sorry for even _thinking_ about propositioning my sister. And anyway, everyone else will want to go after her, and she doesn't deserve to be kidnapped. She's irritating at times but she's basically all right."

"Perhaps we should go to see Tarreiz," Robo suggested. "We will need a guide to find Synalair quickly, or someone from whom we can get directions. If we ask him, we can ask about Kelke at the same time."

"I _like_ that. Good robot," said Magus absently. "Now... about waking up the others..."

"Perhaps an ether would work?"

"We could do that," the currently powerless wizard allowed. "I was thinking about throwing them down the stairs myself, but..."

"Why don't you go to Tarreiz alone, while I attempt to wake the others?" Robo suggested. "It will save time, and I think we will need to get to Synalair quickly. He lives at the south end of the village, if you remember."

"I don't, actually, but I do now. You trust me to do that all by myself?"

"I believe that you can defend yourself even without your magic, and yes, Magus, I trust you."

"Oh." Magus was surprised but pleased. He was trying to be good now, after all, and being trusted helped, even if it was only by a machine to which he rarely spoke. "It's late, but I'll wake him up anyway. You'll stay here?"

"Yes. I will bring Schala and Lucca to this room so I can keep an eye on the whole group," the robot responded. "I do not know how successful I will be in waking them, so you may as well take your time."

"Oh, and Ayla's in a sack," Magus remembered. "Bring her too." He nodded to the robot and headed downstairs, making his way more carefully. He was almost tripped over by something small and fluffy. "Alfador! Get back up the stairs!"

"Meow!" Alfador shot back defiantly.

"Okay, then," Magus allowed, finding the front room more easily than before. "But stay close to me. I don't want you to get stolen or stepped on," and with that, Magus and his cat stepped out onto the dark street.


	7. Chapter Seven

****

Chapter Seven

Magus checked a handy weathervane to find a southerly direction and headed off in it purposefully, Alfador half-running by his side, matching the wizard's pace easily. He found that he didn't even need directions to find Tarreiz in the end, because he sensed fairly strong magic and just followed that. The door of the house at which he found himself was not locked. He let himself in, feeling perhaps slightly guilty, Alfador slipping nimbly between his legs to enter the house too.

The room beyond was bright. A girl sat at the table, fair-haired, pale-skinned, maybe a year or two younger than Lucca, and as she lifted her eyes to his he saw that they were dark with a knowledge and hardness far beyond her years.

She spoke in a faintly musical and confident voice. "Hello, Janus."

"I'm looking for Tarreiz," he responded with the caution and distrust anyone could hold for someone who had just named them unerringly.

"Yes. I know," she responded.

There was a long silence, broken only by Alfador's steady purr.

"You're Tarreiz, aren't you?" he said finally, making it more of a statement than a question. "For some reason I assumed you would be male."

"It's a mistake made by many," she replied.

"Your magic is strong enough to be sensed. That's rare. How did you know my name?"

"Strong enough to be sensed by those who are strong enough to sense it, in response to your first statement," Tarreiz told him calmly. "And I am, and have been, many things, Janus. Witch. Queen. Oracle. Prophet. Sorceress. You seek the sorceror Kelke and you require directions to Synalair, yes?"

"Um. Yes." Magus had posed as a prophet before joining the group; he had pulled it off because he had known what would happen. He was sometimes warned by the black wind, a kind of foreboding, but true knowledge of the future was beyond him.

"It is but a trick that can be mastered, Janus," murmured the girl who had to be far older than she looked. "I will lead you to Synalair. Kelke is a different, and far more difficult, matter. His castle is cloaked with enchantments that will cause the eye of the casual observer to slide away, unseeing. I can lead you to Kelke as well, although this is a breach of his privacy."

"We can't pay you," he told her honestly.

"I do not require payment," Tarreiz responded. "I will do this for the Eighth Mage, who travels with you for a reason of which even I am unsure."

"The Eighth Mage?"

"All will come to be explained in time, Janus. All I ask of you and the group that I will lead to Kelke is a favour. Not nearly a simple favour."

"What do you want?" If she could not only lead them to the place where they could get Marle back, but on to Kelke, then surely nothing she asked could be too great.

"When Kelke arrives in an attempt to stop me, and I know he will, his desire not to be found by any of you will be so strong that he will attempt to kill me. I ask that you find a way to prevent him from doing so."

"Oh. Well, okay."

"You wish to begin your journey as quickly as possible," remarked Tarreiz, rising and making her way over to him with an almost impossible grace. Alfador meowed at her. She glanced down at him and smiled with utter delight. "A cat! I love cats! May I hold him?"

"If he wants to be held by you," Magus responded, "then go ahead." Alfador tended to like only Schala and himself, but judging by the cat's ecstatic purrs when Tarreiz picked him up, he would more than tolerate her.

"You are staying at the Horse and Cart?" she queried, walking past him and onto the dark street, Alfador held in her arms.

"Um, yes." He closed the door behind them and followed her.

"Then that was the start of all your problems, Janus," Tarreiz shrugged. "Patrons, especially female, have a tendency to disappear from that particular place."

"Well, no one told _us_!" Magus responded irritably, flicking a jealous glare at Alfador. "Can I have my cat back?"

"Oh, of course." Tarreiz handed the cat over and led the way back to the inn.

Upon their return, Magus was pleased indeed to find that Robo had discovered a way to wake up the others. Crono looked worried and distressed, and Lucca was talking to him quietly. Everyone was aware of Crono's affection for Marle, and Lucca knew that they had a greater chance of getting her back if he didn't lose it. 

"Everyone," Magus announced upon his entry to the room, "this is Tarreiz."

Lucca glanced up and glared. "Tarreiz the magician?"

"Yes, I could be called that," responded Tarreiz calmly.

The inventor demanded, "Magus, why have you brought her here?"

"Because she says she can not only lead us to Marle but take us to Kelke's castle," Magus answered, not understanding why Lucca was so annoyed about the magician's presence.

"You can help us get Marle back?" Crono demanded of Tarreiz.

"I can take you to the place where she would most likely be, Crono, but I cannot promise you her safe return," Tarreiz answered carefully.

"How do you know his name?" The question was from Lucca.

"I see many things, Lucca." The dark eyes flickered. "And you have no reason to be jealous."

"I am _not_ jealous! Why would I be jealous of _you_?" There was no way Lucca was going to admit it, but she _was_ jealous. Tarreiz was blonde and pretty and not only full-sighted but apparently had some kind of other vision and gave off a sense of allure and power and Magus had brought her back with him. Lucca had always been far too busy with her machines to bother about the opposite gender and, unsure of what to do to even express interest, saw Tarreiz instantly as a threat. Magus was _hers_, Lucca's, and there was no way she was going to let this _magician_ steal him.

Tarreiz labelled her as utterly unreasonable and turned back to Crono. "If you wish to save Marle from her eventual fate, then you will need to be quick in reaching Synalair."

"Why? What _is_ her 'eventual fate'?" Crono worried.

"Do you not know of Synalair?"

"No, we're from a universe that's alternate to this one," Schala explained.

"Oh. Forgive me, I had not thought to see that far into your origins," Tarreiz apologised (although they didn't really understand for what she was apologising). "You will indeed wish to hurry. The city of Synalair hosts the only public slave market."


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

"Where are you taking me? _Brutes_! Let me _go_!"

Marle gave Derron her best angry-princess-with-the-power-to-get-you-executed glare, but he ignored her. Irritated even more by this, Marle wrenched at the ropes that held her hands tied behind her back with all her strength but they were expertly tied and she accomplished nothing. She gave an inward sigh and tried to count her blessings. At least they had let her out of that awful sack. It stank of stale sweat and the overpowering scent of fear, and she wondered how many people had been in it.

Marle glanced around her as they walked. An unfamiliar man walked in the lead, Derron and the other man from the inn flanking Marle in an unknowing mockery of the way she had sometimes been escorted around Truce. There seemed to be no other prisoners. Especially with her hands tied, Marle didn't have a way to defend herself - her bow had been left behind at the inn - and she didn't have anything on her that they could steal; all she had was the clothes on her back, which were dirty and needed to be washed anyway. Marle was a smart girl (smarter than her actions may have sometimes led one to believe) and suspected that they were planning to do something like sell her into slavery. She also knew that Crono and the others had a better chance of finding her if she stayed with Derron and the others. Not only might her captors kill her if she tried to run, but she didn't know where she was going and may very well die in the wilderness. She _really_ didn't want to die. Not for a long time yet, anyway.

She stumbled and almost fell over. Derron jerked her back up to her feet and muttered, "Walk properly," adding a name on the end that she really didn't think was appropriate. She almost snapped back at him but decided not to. Her awakening had been rude - finding yourself in a sack is not a way she would have recommended to anyone to start their day - and she was still tired. She had fallen asleep the instant she had laid down on the bed, which was unusual as she usually spent over half an hour trying to get to sleep even when she was exhausted. Considering the fact that she had been lying next to Crono, she hadn't thought she would have drifted off to sleep that easily at all. It was that fact that made her suspect that she had been drugged.

She expected that Crono and the others were trying to find her. Well, she really hoped they were, anyway. They would probably have been drugged too - she recalled Magus' reluctance to eat the food that had been provided last night - so Derron and the other men definitely had a head start on them. Completely unfamiliar with the geography of the place and having spent most of the journey so far asleep in a sack, Marle didn't know how far that head start was.

The fact that she couldn't defend herself was really getting to her, but what could she do with her hands tied? Scream and bite someone? She had never had to learn any kind of physical defence, although she had enjoyed teaching herself how to use her crossbow. She had sneaked out to watch the army at archery practice and had applied what she had seen to the crossbow that a travelling weapons-maker named Melchior had sold her, finding it surprisingly easy. She wished she had that crossbow now. Even a big rock would do, she thought, eyeing the cold, wet snow distrustfully and deciding that she never wanted to walk through snow ever again.

"Where are we going?" she asked Derron hopefully. None of the three men had volunteered any kind of information, nor had they responded to her questions.

"Not your business to know," Derron muttered.

"I think it _is_ my business, considering you're taking me there."

"Synalair," called the man in the lead, turning back to them. "The name of the place won't do any good nor ill to someone so obviously... out of town."

Marle took this to mean that he knew that she wasn't originally from this universe. She wondered how he knew.

"See the forest ahead?" continued the man. "The ground there will not be covered by snow. We will camp there for the night."

Marle was relieved at the thought of walking on proper dirt, not treacherous snow, but it seemed to take hours and hours to reach the forest. The man who was obviously in the lead sent Derron to find some wood for a fire and gestured for Marle to sit on a nearby log. She did, gratefully, and he sat down himself on a strangely dry rock, peeling something that looked like a carrot with a sharp knife but watching her thoughtfully. For the most part she ignored him, studying the forest curiously. It was dark and cold, but less colder than the exposed snow-covered environment outside and far drier.

Presently he spoke. "Tell me, what do you know of the Eight Mages?"

"Tarkyn!" protested the other man almost as soon as the word 'mages' had left his mouth.

"If she doesn't know about them already, Kent, then her knowing about them can do no harm," Tarkyn reasoned, keeping his almost startlingly green eyes on Marle. "So?"

"Um... nothing," Marle admitted with a shrug. "I haven't heard about any mages at all. Could you untie my hands, please? I am not armed so I can't try to kill you, and I won't run away. I promise. I don't know where I'm going, I'd get completely lost and probably die in the wilderness."

"I'll think about it," Tarkyn responded, slicing the carrot-thing into a pot of water resting on the ground near him and reaching for another of the long orange vegetables from a small hessian sack. Marle eyed the sack distrustfully, having decided that she really didn't like sacks. "The Mages - you will need to know this if you don't want to get killed for your ignorance - the Mages are a group of, well, you could call them magicians. Are you familiar with the idea of magic?"

Marle nodded hesitantly but decided that it was wiser to keep her own magic a secret for now.

"Good. I'm not qualified to explain the concept of magic to you. Each of the Mages has an area on which their power is strongest, their element, if you like. I'm quite sure that you understand elemental magic," he said blandly, a smile playing on his lips. "The eight elements are Sun, Water, Fire, Forest, Vision, Moon, Shadow and Existence. Kent, go and help Derron bring the wood. He's probably managed to get lost again."

Grumbling, Kent got to his feet and walked deeper into the forest. Tarkyn watched him go expressionlessly, then turned back to Marle, a strand of his dirty blonde hair falling in front of his vivid green eyes. He flicked it away irritably.

"I have no intention of selling you in Synalair," he assured her bluntly. "I have a feeling that there is a lot you can still do, and you won't be able to do any of it in slavery to some strange person. As a matter of fact, I have never sold anyone, and I don't mean to. Back to the Mages - they are a far more important topic of conversation. The Mages are scattered throughout this universe and tend to be a little... off the planet. They are all immortal and will remain a certain physical age for the rest of existence. This age is defined by however old they are when their body decides to stop aging. It's all very strange... anyway, the Mages don't just drift around looking impressive and being powerful, they have a purpose, and this purpose is to protect this universe at all costs. Currently there is a threat to it, hurtling through space. A very spikey, pointy and fiery thing that will affect our world as it has yours."

"Lavos!" Marle exclaimed. "Lavos is coming to your universe too?"

"If not for the powers of the Mages, he would have hit this universe at the same time that he destroys yours. That is to say, he's coming in a couple of years. They can keep him off for a few years later, but no more. It is their hope to construct a force-field around this universe, so he'll just bounce off and go somewhere else."

"Then he'll hit some _other_ defenceless world!"

"Not so. The Mages can ensure that he hits in a certain place that will send him straight to an empty planet, devoid of life. There, he can destroy to his black heart's content. This is where you and your friends come in handy."

"How do you _know_ so much about us?"

"I was told," said Tarkyn carefully. "Four of the Mages reside in the Castle of Sorcery, Altrisiac, but the other four are somewhere in the universe and have not heard the call. Through the course of your journey here, you and your friends must find the other three Mages, including the Eighth. They'd really appreciate it if you could find the Eighth Mage, by the way, because they can't."

"How do you know all this? Wait, you said there are eight Mages, four of them in the Castle, and we have to find the other _three_." Marle's eyes were narrow with suspicion. "You're a Mage, aren't you?"

"I assure you, I am not!"

"It would explain how you know everything, and how you know so much about the Mages. And why those two brutes do everything you say. Which _one_ are you?" She leaned forward to study him. "Forest," she decided. "You're the Forest Mage." It would explain the incredible, almost unnaturally vivid green of his eyes.

"I am _not_ a Mage!" said Tarkyn with firm desperation.

"I think you are," she responded, leaning back.

"Think what you want," he muttered uncomfortably and would not speak to her for the remainder of that evening.

They arrived in Synalair in the morning two days later. Tarkyn dismissed Derron and Kent, both of whom wandered off, presumably back to their village. Tarkyn dragged Marle around Synalair for a while, stopping in a clothes shop to buy her a thick woollen coat and saying it was compensation for the time she had spent in the sack. The second time he stopped her, it was to point something out to her.

"The Black Citadel," he said. "They say a dark sorcerer of immense power dwells there."

"I don't see it," she said blankly, looking around for it.

He rested a hand on her shoulder and pointed. "Oh, there it is!" she exclaimed. "I see it now. It doesn't look like a very nice place," she said, looking up at him.

"I have heard that it's not," Tarkyn shrugged and lifted his hand from her shoulder.

"Oh, that's probably where Kelke lives!" Marle looked back to where she thought the Citadel had been but couldn't see it.

"Come, Marle. We will wait in the Synalair Inn for your friends to find us," Tarkyn said in a tone of voice that implied that his instruction was not to be argued with. "They will be here soon. They will come."


	9. Chapter Nine

Crono, Schala and the others made quite good time, considering they were wading through snow that became at times knee-deep or higher. Magus was thoroughly miserable, even though they had paused to purchase appropriate clothing for a walk through the snow, including snow-glasses so they didn't get blinded by the glare of the sun reflecting off of the snow. Well, by 'purchased', Crono supposed they meant that Tarreiz had promised to pay the shopkeeper back eventually. The others did not have any kind of currency that was usable in this universe.

In the afternoon of the first day, Frog had had a sudden thought. "Lady Lucca," he had said, dropping back to walk with the scientist and ignoring the presence of Magus, who walked on her other side, "do you not have the Kelke-finder? Surely we could use that to seek out the elusive sorcerer of darkness?"

"We could," Lucca had responded uncomfortably, "if I hadn't dropped it when we crash-landed the Epoch. I forgot about it and never picked it up. I guess it's sitting out there somewhere in the snow. Probably covered, by now."

"It's no problem," Magus had chipped in. "Tarreiz says she can lead us there."

"Oh, well if _Tarreiz_ says that she can lead us there, it must be all right," Lucca shot back darkly. "As long as _Tarreiz_ says she can do it, then everything's just fine and dandy for you, isn't it?"

"What's your problem?" Magus had demanded angrily. "What has she done to you? You should be grateful to her! She doesn't _have_ to lead us to Marle, who incidentally is your friend... _if_ you recall!" With that, he had gone to walk with Schala instead.

Lucca glared at the fair-haired magician as she trudged, half-blind, through the snow. It was sometime in the afternoon or maybe evening of the third day, and to make matters worse, it was _snowing_ on them. Tarreiz had said during their break some two hours ago that they were getting close. Lucca wished they could be there right now. Not only was she sure that they would have cleared the streets of snow in the city and they could get Marle back before something horrible happened to her, but it would mean that half of Tarreiz's task would be done and she would leave them sooner.

And this miserable trip would be other. None of the group, except maybe Schala and of course with the exception of Tarreiz, was used to walking through snow like this. They weren't used to the cold, either, which touched them even through their thick coats at times when the temperature was especially low and bitter. They rarely spoke, except of course for Magus who usually held a conversation with Tarreiz when he walked with her (which happened far too often for Lucca's liking), their voice so quiet that Lucca couldn't hear what passed between them.

The nights were the best. It was hard to find a dry place in which they could sleep - the forest up ahead looked promising - but when they did find one, they all snuggled down cosily. Magus always slept beside Lucca, sharing her body heat. Alfador slept with them, but Lucca didn't mind sharing the wizard with his ever-faithful cat. Their place was usually the most comfortable because Magus didn't mind getting his cloak dirty by laying it on the ground so they could sleep on it (now dressed warmly in the clothes that Tarreiz had acquired for them, Ayla no longer had need of it and Magus was ecstatic to have it back). Lucca always found that sleep came more easily to her than she would have thought that it might, considering the bitter cold. She was always warm, snuggled up to Magus. Being so close to him felt so safe, so _right_, that it seemed as though all her worries over Marle, how the Epoch was going, if it would be there when they returned, if her parents were concerned about her, all of her worries and troubles no longer mattered. Yesterday morning she had woken to find his arms around her, and that felt right too.

Lucca shivered and pulled her coat tighter around her, and up ahead Tarreiz lifted her head. "It will not be long before we reach the forest, Lucca," she called back. "It will be warmer there."

_'Mindreading slut,'_ thought Lucca bitterly, and hoped with all her might that Tarreiz had caught that thought. Deep within her, buried under her jealousy and resentment, Lucca knew that her hatred of Tarreiz was misguided. She shouldn't be worried about losing Magus; she didn't have him anyway, and didn't know how to go about securing him. Besides, she ought to be worrying over Marle. As for what the magicians spoke about at such lengths but so quietly? Why, it was probably matters of magic, so sophisticated that it would only confuse the others (with the exception, as always, of Schala).

After all, it wasn't Tarreiz with whom Magus came to sleep at night. It wasn't Tarreiz who woke up to find herself in his arms. It wasn't Tarreiz for whom Magus was willing to dirty his cloak. It was Lucca; plain, nerdy, half-blind, barely magical Lucca for whom Magus did all of that.

He'd never made a move on her, though; not that Lucca knew about. Maybe that meant he wasn't interested in her after all? Lucca remembered taking him to the Millennial Fair, washing and trimming his hair afterwards (it was growing - she wondered how long it would take to reach his shoulders). It had seemed, then, that there was something between them. At least, she hoped there was. Then again, Lucca wouldn't know a 'move' if it started taking her clothes off. She stiffened. What if he _had_ tried something but she had discouraged him by her lack of reaction? That would be just her luck! Damn it, where was Marle when you needed her?

Possibly being sold at a slave market in the town they were desperately trying to reach. That's where Marle was.

There was a mutual sigh of relief from everyone when they finally reached the forest. It was surprisingly warm and dry. Tarreiz stopped at what was obviously an old campsite - there were coals in the fireplace - and knelt briefly. She traced her fingers through the dirt thoughtfully.

Lucca felt a presence at her shoulder and was hopeful, but it was only Crono. "What is she doing?" he asked her in a whisper, shifting the crossbow on his back. He had insisted on taking it with them and would allow no one else to carry it.

"Ayla hungry," declared Ayla.

"Ayla is always hungry," responded Tarreiz absently. "Ayla go run find some kind of animal bring back dead we eat, yes no?"

"Ayla go!" said Ayla happily and darted off into the forest.

Tarreiz started to say something, stopped, changed her mind. "Marle has been here."

"She has?" Crono demanded, pushing past Lucca to stand next to Tarreiz, who rose to her feet almost defensively. "So we're on the trail? Where is she? How long since she passed here?"

"Two or three days," Tarreiz responded and turned to Frog to answer the question he was just about to ask. "We have taken so long because it began to snow as we walked whereas Marle and her... captors have had a clearer route. Also, they have undoubtedly travelled this road before, whereas I have long waited in Jeraska."

"Waited for what?" Lucca asked brightly.

"Nothing that concerns you," Tarreiz answered sharply. It was the first time her tone had been anything but coldly polite.

Lucca raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so the goddess _does_ get angry."

"Why do you distrust me so?" demanded the magician, turning on her. "Can you not see that I have no desire to take from you what you do not yet have? You cannot love unless you learn to trust enough to lose."

"Who are you to say that? What would _you_ know of loss?"

"Speak not to _me_ of loss! I have already lost, and continue to lose with every passing moment." Tarreiz abruptly turned from her to face Crono. "There is something that must be done," she said tightly. "The girl has a talent for fire, strangely enough, and should be able to light a fire for you. I will return," and with that Tarreiz turned from them and abandoned them in the unfamiliar darkness of the forest.


	10. Chapter Ten

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Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has been putting up with my slackness enough to review this story, particularly Yuffie-Girl (so how about that other Lucca/Magus story that you were thinking about?) and Sage of Darkness (poke! Write more of the Sonic story). I've said that this is a Lucca/Magus story, and it is, but not very. The first kiss is coming up in a few chapters, not sure how many exactly, so that will be something to look out for, but it may not be quite what you'd expect…

Chapter Ten

"Um... great," said Crono into the silence that followed. "Our guide has just gone off and left us. Lucca? Would you care to explain?"

"She irritates me," was the only answer that Lucca could give.

"Lucca..." Crono flicked an anxious glance at Magus and, going to Lucca, tried to lead her a distance away from the others. "What's the problem? You're not jealous, are you?"

"No," Lucca spat. "I have to go and light the fire - "

"I'm sure Magus can do that," Crono shrugged. "Magus! Light a fire!"

"I really wish I could!" Magus snarled back. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Crono stared at him, then sighed. "That's right. You can't use magic until you've defeated Kelke. I'm sorry, I forgot. Maybe Schala...? Whatever." He turned back to Lucca. "I know I've been pretty out of it these past few days, and I'm sorry for that, but even _I_ can see how much you hate her. Can't you control it until we get Marle back? We can't afford to have Tarreiz angry with any of us! She's the only one who can lead us to Marle!"

"And to Kelke," Lucca reminded him angrily. "You can't forget about getting Magus his magic back!"

"Oh, that. Lucca, look at it this way. If Tarreiz abandons us, then we wander lost in the wilderness until we eventually die of starvation or cold or thirst or craziness or something. Marle gets a life of slavery, Magus dies a magicless death, and Lavos ravages our world to make it that bleak future that we've all seen. We can't afford _that_!"

Lucca nodded slowly. "I haven't really been very nice to her, I guess. I won't ever be able to like her - "

"I'm not after that," Crono interrupted.

"Shut up, I'm talking. You never let me talk! I'll try not to be nasty... as long as she keeps away from Magus!"

"And _there's_ the green-eyed monster. I doubt that she thinks of him that way. I've overheard what they talk about sometimes. It's all what spell does what and which particular, confusingly intricate way you have to wave your hands and chant to call up fluffy kittens from the depths of Hell. _No one_ is going to even try to steal him from you. They'd get shot if they tried."

Lucca grinned. "Damn right they would."

"Oh, and _no_ shooting Tarreiz. You kill her, we wander lost in the wilderness and die, Marle - "

"Gets sold into slavery, Magus dies without his magic, Lavos destroys our universe," she finished for him. "I get it. I get it, Crono. It's all good."

"Glad to hear it, now come and light a fire before Magus freezes to death."

Lucca lit the fire. When Ayla returned, it was with a number of animals that were sufficient enough to feed all of them. Roasted over the fire, they were absolutely delicious. After they had eaten, they had a chat about all sorts of general nothing before they decided it was time to retire for the evening. Crono chose his place and Schala curled up at his feet like a cat, as she had taken to doing lately. Frog had refused to sleep anywhere near Ayla on the basis that she might get hungry in her sleep and eat him.

While Magus arranged the cloak on the ground, Lucca went to check on Robo. She was concerned about the effect that the cold was having on his joints and wirings. He assured her repeatedly that he felt fine, but she went over him once or twice just to check for herself.

"Lucca..." a plaintive voice drifted over the site as she was completing her second safety check, lit only sparingly by the dying fire. Magus. "Come to bed."

Crono sat bolt upright (Schala made a noise of protest, a noise that sounded for all the world like a meow) and demanded, "_What_?"

"The invitation wasn't directed to _you_," said Magus smartly. "I'm cold, and Lucca always makes the bed warmer... why, what were _you_ thinking?"

Over by the other side of the fire, Frog was trying to hold in a giggle. Lucca glared at him. "What's your problem? He was just inviting me to sleep with him."

Frog gave up and laughed. Schala joined in, as did Crono. Ayla went along with it, although she wasn't really sure what they were laughing about. Lucca gave Robo a final pat, then walked over to Magus. "Ignore them," she instructed him. "They're just immature dirty-minded people, is all."

"I beg to differ!" Crono exclaimed. "_I_ wasn't the one who told you to 'come to bed'!"

That set Frog off again, then the four of them were laughing hysterically. Ignoring them, Lucca joined Magus on the cloak, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep.

She couldn't. For some reason beyond her understanding, sleep failed to claim her as quickly as it had every other night. Magus drifted off easily enough and by listening to Crono's steady breathing, a sound that she could hear only faintly, she knew he was asleep too.

Maybe taking a short walk would help. Lucca eased herself out of Magus' arms (she was reluctant to do so, but did it anyway) and rose carefully to her feet. The fire was still glowing softly, sometimes snapping, and she thought she could perhaps see a figure occasionally illuminated a little by some of the sparks. Tarreiz.

A little nervously, Lucca went to sit beside her. That evening Magus had attempted to tell her how strong Tarreiz's magic was. The only thing Lucca could remember from it was that the magician had enough power in her little finger to squish the scientist like any insignificant little bug.

Tarreiz hardly moved as Lucca sat down next to her. There was a long silence, then Lucca said awkwardly, "I'm sorry."

"Do not be. I remember what it's like for every woman sharing any of his interests to be a threat," Tarreiz responded almost warmly, although her voice quavered a little near the end of her sentence.

"Who did you lose?" Lucca asked, feeling brave.

There was another long silence and Lucca, knowing she had said the wrong thing, wondered how Tarreiz would kill her. "I do not usually speak of my private life," said the magician carefully, "but I suppose there is little harm in it."

A longer pause as Tarreiz collected her thoughts, then, softly, "I have not thought of him for a long time. I hate romantic soppy pathetic scenes and yet I find myself stuck in them. I met him here for the first time. In this forest - in this place. I... no, I cannot speak of him."

"Did he die?"

"No," answered Tarreiz; "but I wish he had. I see him, and I cannot touch him. Perhaps it would be better if I were dead."

"There's nothing so bad that you have to kill yourself," said Lucca with rising concern. "There's always a way out."

"Yes, and also should I die you wander lost in the wilderness until you perish of starvation, Marle faces a life of slavery, Magus will die without his magic, and Lavos ravishes your world," Tarreiz responded almost coldly. "Go now, for we still have a hard journey before us. I speak truth when I say that I will never become your friend, but perhaps I will not remain an outlet for your childish jealousy."

"You just can't bring yourself to thaw around me, can you?" Lucca shot back and stormed off, fuming. _Childish!_ She just couldn't work the woman out! One moment they were having a heart-to-heart, the next Lucca wanted to kill the little bitch.

She performed the enjoyable task of snuggling up to Magus again. He put his arms around her, startling her because she had thought he was asleep, and said softly, "She's really not that bad if you just give her a chance."

"I don't really think she'll give _me_ the chance to give _her_ a chance."

"You don't have to like her. Just tolerate her." Magus whispered into her ear in a conversational tone of voice, "I will admit, sometimes I just want to kill her."

Lucca laughed softly. "You're not the only one," she responded and settled down to sleep.


	11. Chapter Eleven

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A/N: Just thought I'd add a note to ask you to tell me what you think of Tarreiz so far, and if your initial opinion of her has changed at all (especially after this chapter). She isn't _meant_ to be hated, although I know that Sage of Darkness for one doesn't like her very much, and it would be interesting to see if anyone likes her. (I myself haven't decided yet, and she's my own character!) And, of course, any reviews with any comments at all are definitely welcome!

Chapter Eleven

Two days later, Crono and his friends were walking into Synalair.

The village was not the type that Lucca would have expected to be known for having a slave market. It was clean and white and busy and looked quite friendly.

"It changes as night falls," Tarreiz remarked casually. "You would not want to be wandering alone through the darkness of Synalair. You will find the streets surprisingly empty in the evening. Come, Marle is this way. She is quite safe, Crono."

"How do you know?" Crono muttered darkly, shifting the bow yet again on his back.

The village was also bigger than they would have expected. Everyone except for Magus and Schala, both of whom were used to fancy pomp that had no purpose other than to impress, was overawed by the prettiness and cleanliness of the buildings and stuck close to Tarreiz as she led them through the city. Lucca wondered if she was the only one who noticed how the crowd parted to let them through - or rather, to allow Tarreiz to pass unchallenged.

Tarreiz stopped and Crono's breath caught in his throat. "I see her," he whispered and pushed past the magician. Marle was standing in the square with an unfamiliar man. His hair was a kind of dark, dirty blonde and his eyes, had Crono taken the time to notice them, were an unusually brilliant green.

"Is he the one who kidnapped her?" Crono demanded. "He is, isn't he? I'll kill him!"

"_No_!" The cry came from Tarreiz, and Crono found himself frozen in his tracks. "No harm comes to Tarkyn," hissed the magician in a tone bordering on fury. "I would strike you down where you stand before I allowed you to raise your hand against him!"

Crono held up his hands. "Okay, I won't even _try_ to harm him! Let me go... please?" She didn't answer but he found that he could move his feet again, so he presumed that she had decided he could be trusted.

Marle had sighted Crono's wild red hair and, catching Tarkyn's hand, dragged him over. "You have to meet my friends! I'm sure they'll like you," she said confidently, for she herself had come to be quite fond of Tarkyn during the days she had spent in his company at Synalair. "Well, Crono might be a little bit upset with you, and Lucca may or may not approve, and if Ayla tries to eat you, don't take any offence. Oh, and Frog's a frog, but we don't talk about it much any more. And Robo rarely joins in anything. Schala may act a little aloof sometimes, and Magus usually comes across as a little bit evil. But Alfador's nice enough - he's the cat. Hey Crono!" she said brightly as they reached the group and, abandoning Tarkyn, hugged Crono.

He hugged her back and then, taken by impulse and his utter happiness to have her back safely and mainly by a desire to do exactly that almost the first time he'd seen her, he kissed her. She responded almost without thinking about it and when they came up for air, she stared at him, eyes wide. "Wow," she breathed softly and kissed him again.

The others gave a mutual roll of their eyes and turned to Tarkyn, ignoring the two. For his part, Tarkyn was ignoring all of them. "Tarreiz," he said almost nervously. "You're not meant to be here. Why... what are _you_ doing in Synalair?"

"I got sick of Jeraska," Tarreiz responded coldly. "Magus and the others employed my aid in leading them to Synalair to recover their lost comrade."

"Yes, I knew they would follow, that's why I took her. You know they had to come here. Why did you bring them?"

"I was not certain if they could be trusted in the hands of a common guide. Your task here is done, Tarkyn. You should return to Altrisiac now."

Lucca wondered if anyone else had noticed how carefully Tarreiz had avoided mentioning the fact that she was also leading them to Kelke. Magus had told them what the magician had said when he first spoke to her - something about the invasion of privacy. She wondered if Tarreiz meant to complete this second task.

"Tarreiz..." Tarkyn began awkwardly. He started to say something, changed his mind. "You don't want company?"

"I was alone in Jeraska for years, if you recall. Why should I need you now? You _or_ your company?"

It was _that_ statement that concreted Lucca's suspicions. Tarkyn's initial reaction to the clearly unexpected sight of Tarreiz, and the magician's first cold response, had made the young inventor wonder if it might be this (quite cute) green-eyed man whom Tarreiz had 'lost'. Now she was sure of it.

"Well... okay," said Tarkyn, clearly relieved to be getting away so easily. "I guess I'll see you around Altrisiac, then. Take care of Marle - she is Mage-touched."

"Yes, I _know_ that," Tarreiz snapped. "It would do you good to remember to whom you speak."

"Oh. Yes. Sorry. I'll... see you around, then," said Tarkyn uncomfortably and, glancing quickly around at the group, smiled briefly and walked away.

"I am sure that you will," remarked Tarreiz softly to herself. Drawing back into her always polite and sometimes cold shell, she turned to study her charges. 

"We will rest here in this village tonight," she declared. "There is a reputable hostel on the outskirts of the city." Her dark eyes flickered over Crono and Marle. "Someone unglue those two."

"That's disgusting, it really is," Magus declared. "Get a room! Right, that's it." He walked to the side of the street to where the snow was piled up. Because he had his back to them, none of them could see what he was doing, but when he turned it was with a ball of snow in his hands. "Hey! Break it up!" he shouted at Crono and Marle, and threw the snowball at them. 

"Hey!" Marle exclaimed indignantly, breaking away from Crono. For his part, Crono didn't waste his breath with any outburst but stooped to gather some snow, which he packed into a ball and threw back at Magus. The warlock retaliated with another snowball of his own, and before anyone knew it they were waging a full-scale snow-war on the streets of Synalair.

Magus, Lucca and Schala fought bravely against Crono, Marle, Frog and Ayla but found themselves losing to the superior tactics of the others. Alfador and Robo chose to sit this one out, as did Tarreiz at the start, but the magician's neutrality ended when Schala, Lucca and Crono turned on her. After that it was an absolute free-for-all which ended up with all eight of the fighters rolling around on the street and the entire group, including Robo, in hysterics.

"Getting back to business," Tarreiz managed to say, "we ought to retire to the inn. We will all need our rest - "

"Especially after that," Schala commented, pulling Magus to his feet. She fell over backwards in the process. He set her back on her feet and helped Lucca up.

"Indeed," commented the magician as she rose to her feet and tried to get her hair back in some kind of order. (They would never be able to buy the coldly polite and distant act again.) "Come, we must regain our strength, for we have some distance yet to travel."


	12. Chapter Twelve

****

Chapter Twelve

Unusually, Tarreiz allowed them to sleep in later than seven thirty. Lucca supposed it was because they no longer had to hurry to rescue Marle before anything nasty happened to her. She also suspected that Tarreiz had known that Marle was in no danger, but had pushed them all the same.

She rolled over in the single bed to see Magus sprawled on his back over the bed next to her and couldn't suppress a smile. If the once-evil warlock had ever looked cute, it was when he was asleep. The ever-faithful Alfador was curled up on his chest. Lucca remembered how the cat had gone to Magus instantly when he had returned for him. The wizard had been gone for years, but his cat still remembered him. Lucca smiled again at the thought. When he wasn't trying to kill you, Magus had a soft spot a mile wide. He had changed a lot from the arrogant warlock whose mind was filled only with revenge. Then again, as far as they knew, he was still as determined to get his revenge against Lavos as ever. At least he had his sister and his cat back. That was probably what had caused him to change the most.

Lucca was in two minds about having a bed to herself for the first time in almost a week. It was nice to have some space to herself, but she had very much enjoyed spending her nights snuggled up to Magus. She supposed that on the trip to Kelke's castle or wherever it was that he lived, she would get the chance again.

She was happy to see that Crono and Marle had finally managed to get together. True, she had been a little jealous of the blonde princess at first - Crono was _her_ friend, had been for all her life, and she didn't want to share him with anyone - and she had had a crush on him a few years ago, but she had since managed to get over it. It had been so obvious to all of them that the two were attracted to each other, but neither seemed to have made a move previous to this.

Obvious? That made Lucca wonder how obvious her attraction to Magus was. In her mind, there was no doubt that she was very close to being in love with him. She didn't know if he returned her feelings and she had no idea how to find out. He seemed to enjoy her company, and that was a start, but she didn't want to be friends with him. She wanted to be more than friends. She wanted to... to marry him and settle down somewhere and have mini-Maguses...

"Mini-Maguses," she said to herself softly, and grinned. "Dear God, no." Marriage was looking too far into the future at the moment, anyway. She needed to concentrate on surviving the battle with Kelke that they all _knew_ was coming, and once they were back in their universe, she could sit down and have a big think about Magus. Well, a longer think than usual.

Struck by a sudden, horrible thought, Lucca threw off the covers, tried to get out of the bed, fell over, rose to her feet hoping that no one had noticed that, and went to where her clothes were piled neatly. (She was wearing pyjamas that Tarreiz had acquired for her in the village seemingly known as Jebraska.) There was a positively horrible and terrifying moment when all her pockets were empty, then she remembered her pants and checked the pocket there. Her fingertips felt something and she drew it out of the pocket, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the lock of orange hair resting on her palm. Without that bit of hair, she couldn't make a Taban-finder. Without a Taban-finder, she couldn't get them back to their own universe.

She replaced the precious bit of hair and patted the pocket absently, then glanced up at the door when it opened with a slightly guilty expression (although she hadn't done anything wrong).

"Get Magus and Schala up," Tarreiz instructed, not at all surprised to see that Lucca was up. "We have to get moving."

"Why?" Lucca asked. "I don't mean to be a pain, I'm just curious. It's one of my main faults. Why do we have to move so quickly?"

"I want to get you pointed on the right path before Kelke discovers that I am with you," Tarreiz responded. "I am breaking one of the rules of the Mages and when I am found out, none of the Eight will be particularly content with me."

"The mages? What - " Lucca was too late; Tarreiz had already closed the door.

They breakfasted on hot porridge that morning. It was utterly delicious, and Tarreiz promised the obliging innkeeper that she would repay him eventually. Lucca wondered who this magician was that she was so well known. After that they set off on their journey once more. Crono walked with Marle almost possessively, as if challenging anyone to take her away from him again.

Her curiousity again stirred, Lucca increased her pace to walk on Marle's other side. "That man - "

"Tarkyn," Marle supplied the name.

"Yes, him. He called you 'mage-touched'. What do you suppose that means?"

"I don't know. When did he call me that? I don't remember that."

"You were... otherwise occupied," remarked Lucca, and Crono turned a very satisfactory shade of red.

Marle shook her head. "I don't know what he meant by 'mage-touched'. It might be that I've been exposed to the Mages before the rest of you. Do you know anything about the Mages?"

Lucca and Crono both shook their heads.

"Well," began the princess, "they - "

"Lucca, may I ask if you have a way of returning your group to your own universe?" Tarreiz called back.

"If I can get the parts, then I can make a device that will lock on to a person in my universe, and if the Epoch still works, then we can transport ourselves there," Lucca answered.

"That's a lot of 'if's," Magus commented.

"What, don't you trust me?" Lucca asked with mock hurt.

Magus raised an eyebrow. "I've seen some of your inventions. That robot of yours at the fair almost broke my foot."

"Well, not many people _kick_ it."

"What else could I do? I couldn't hold my scythe and I couldn't use magic!"

"Yes, never underestimate the power of the scytheless, magicless wizard," Schala teased.

"Damn right!" Magus agreed.

"That reminds me, we need to work on that technique," Crono remembered. "You know, where someone puts magic on Magus' scythe and he swings it? If he has to be the one to deal the final blow to Kelke to regain his magic, then we're going to need to get it right."

"We'll practice it tonight," Marle decided. "And maybe Frog can demonstrate it for us. Hey, Frog, how come you and Magus can do that so perfectly?"

"I do not know," Frog answered. "Perchance it is because we have previously encountered the other and I have had the misfortune to spend more time with him in a time-line than any other in our group."

"Hey! Are you suggesting that sharing a time-line with me is a _bad_ thing?" Magus demanded.

"I had to share a palace with you, and _that_ was bad enough!" Schala put in.

"Nobody loves me!"

"Oh, I think you'll find that _Lucca_ does," Crono teased, and it was Lucca's turn to blush.

"Well - " she began, but stopped. "Marle, what _are_ you doing?"

"Athing thnowfakes oh mah hung," Marle responded. She was walking with her tongue stuck out.

"Is it snowing?" Schala held a hand out as if to test for snowflakes.

"In Marle's world, it certainly appears to be!" was Magus' comment.

The group kept up the steady chatter, banter and teasing until Tarreiz stopped them for the night. "I think we have gone far enough this day," she said, casting a worried glance at the horizon - or at something that the others couldn't see. "We must start early in the morrow. You should work on the technique about which you spoke. I will start the fire," she said and wandered off to do so.

Crono flexed his fingers as if he would call on the lightning then and there. "What do you think of Tarreiz?" he asked Marle.

"I think she's a Mage," answered Marle, taking a drink from a water bottle. "Ah! Cold!"

"Yes, it's snowing," remarked Magus acidly, wrapping his cloak about him for any scrap of warmth that he could get.

Marle wrinkled her nose at him but otherwise ignored him. "She's one of the Eight Mages. I can't think of which one, though, but she's definitely a Mage."

"Yes," Lucca agreed, "she's a magician, and so is Magus. Magus the mage... couldn't you think up anything better?" she asked Magus.

He shrugged. "I was disorientated and very young when I found myself in the middle of some crazy place that definitely was _not_ Zeal. So no, I couldn't think up anything better. Come over here, I'm cold!"

As Lucca went to him, Frog asked Marle, "Doth thou possess information of the mages that could enlighten us? I have heard just enough of them to pique my curiousity but not nearly enough to sate it."

"There are eight of them," Marle began, for that was something she could definitely remember. "Forest, Sun, Moon, Water, Fire, Shadow, and I can't remember the last two. I think they're very powerful and very magical beings, and apparently their purpose is to protect this universe. Remember how I told you that Lavos is coming here too? Well, the Mages say they can create a shield that will bounce him away from this planet to an uninhabited one, but they need all eight Mages to do it. They only have five, and apparently the last three still have to be 'awakened'. Or called, or something. The Eighth Mage seems to be the most mysterious. Maybe Tarreiz is the Eighth? Tarkyn is a Mage, by the way, the Forest Mage. He was the one who told me all this."

"What makes you think that Tarreiz is a Mage?" Schala asked curiously.

"She's very powerful and she knows a lot," Marle shrugged. "I heard Tarkyn mention some place called Altrisiac, and seeing her there. I think Altrisiac is some place where the Mages meet. I wonder if she _is_ the Eighth? I just have this... feeling about her."

"Mage-touched," said Lucca to herself.

"She's definitely one of the three that we have to find for them," Marle continued. "So we have two left to find."

"Wait, wait," Crono objected. "We have to save our _own_ world, too. We can't spend forever here, tracking down these Mages."

"But we can look while we're here," Marle pleaded. "I feel we have a duty."

Crono nodded reluctantly. "We can't just leave them defenceless, I agree. Okay, everyone, keep your eyes peeled for anyone you think might be a Mage."

"Kelke is a Mage," Magus put in quietly. "We've _named_ him as one. Everyone calls him that. Kelke is the Shadow Mage."

"You mean...?" Crono let his voice trail away.

Magus nodded. "That's right. We're up against one of the Eight Mages."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

****

Chapter Thirteen

The air, for most of the rest of the night, was somewhat subdued. They had all known that Kelke Peatsar was very powerful, but everyone around here seemed to see the Mages as kind of gods and the idea of battling one wasn't a very inspiring thought. Crono cheered up when he remembered that not only did they have Schala, but they outnumbered the Mage eight to one. Nine, if you counted Alfador. Crono did not think that Tarreiz (also a Mage, apparently) would join them in this battle.

Tarreiz being a Mage made sense. It would explain why she was breaking one of their rules, and it explained her power. Crono hadn't really seen Tarreiz use her power, but she seemed to be telepathic and have a knowledge of the future and, in Crono's books, that indicated considerable power.

The group went through their technique. It was simple, really. All they had to do was concentrate their magic - lightning, water, fire, Schala's damn-near-everything, whatever - on the blade of Magus' scythe to give him a magical attack to use to defeat Kelke and regain his magic. They had also decided to try it with the other person on the verge of passing out (because you never knew what might happen). As usual, Frog and Magus working together did it perfectly. Schala got it almost instantly, followed by Crono. Marle still had problems with it, and Lucca set everything alight except for the blade of the scythe. Tarreiz had returned as they started to practice and watched with great interest. Well, for a while.

Ayla, bored, glanced around at the area and pointed at Tarreiz. "What Tarreiz make?"

"Pardon?" Tarreiz asked, giving her creation a final pat and stepping back to admire her handiwork. "It is a snowman."

"Tarreiz make men of snow?" Ayla was astounded.

Tarreiz nodded. "It is a common past-time in this universe. I will admit, it is a hobby that I share with young children. Adults tend not to make them, but... well, I like them."

Ayla picked up a handful of snow somewhat hesitantly. "Ayla make men of snow too?"

"Of course! You start with a big ball of snow at the bottom... here, come on."

Magus yelled, dropped his scythe and stuck his fingers in his mouth. As an afterthought, he knelt to stick them in the snow instead. It was cold, but it was better than his hand burning off. "_Really_, Lucca! You worked so hard to get my fingers to heal properly after Ozzie broke them. Don't undo all of that work by _burning them off_!"

"I'm sorry!" Lucca cried, embarrassed and concerned. "I didn't really hurt you, did I? Oh, but I thought I had the hang of it... maybe I shouldn't do it any more."

"Maybe you _shouldn't_," Magus agreed coldly. "What in Zeal are Tarreiz and Ayla doing...?"

Crono had long tuned out of the magic practice and was watching the snowman-making lesson instead. It rarely snowed in Truce - it hadn't since Crono could remember, anyway - and he hadn't come across the concept of snowmen either. "What are you doing?"

"Making snowmen!" responded Tarreiz, picking up two sticks and inserting one on either side of the snowman to make arms.

"Can I help?" was Crono's next question.

With that, they abandoned the magic practice entirely. The others watched Tarreiz and Ayla for a while and soon set off to make snowmen of their own. Even Magus was getting into it, and Marle defied tradition to make a snowwoman. After that there was just enough time to eat something for dinner and then have another snowfight before Tarreiz declared that they really did have to get to sleep. They went their different ways - Lucca snuggling up to Magus with Alfador lying on the wizard's other side, Marle draping herself over Crono, Schala sleeping at Crono's feet as always (Marle didn't protest; if she made a fuss, Schala may very well give her a Look). Frog had admitted defeat and had allowed Ayla to curl up next to him. (She hadn't bitten him yet, but he lived in mortal fear that one night it may happen.) Robo leaned himself against a handy rock or tree and shut himself partially down for the night and if Tarreiz slept, then no one knew how, where or when she did it.

You may have thought that after a day of trudging through the snow, practicing a magic trick and then expending all that effort on a snowball fight, the group would have drifted off to sleep easily, and indeed at first they did. At first. All of them woke that night, at about the same time.

Magus was the first to wake, jerked out of his slumber by a presence that scared him more than he would ever admit to anyone, including Schala and Alfador. Schala was next although she was disturbed more by a cold wind than any kind of presence. Likewise, Lucca was stirred by the black wind. Crono and Frog, swordsmen who could never have broken their training, woke when they heard noises and were instantly on their guards. Marle woke because Crono moved, and even Ayla was roused by a bad, BAD feeling.

"Our snowmen are moving," Marle whispered to Crono.

"No," Crono hissed back, although there were dark figures illuminated by the moonlight moving amongst the snowmen. "It's Kelke. He has Tarreiz."

As a matter of fact the two were arguing, and that was probably what had woken Crono and Frog. The words were lost in the sudden wind, so strong that all of them felt it, even Ayla. Crono caught something about a "broken promise" and "Altrisiac", then Tarreiz lifted a hand as if to strike him and Kelke caught it. He trapped her other arm, holding both by the wrists, and said something to her that sounded nasty.

It was Tarreiz's cry of pain that made them move. The instant the cry left her lips, Crono was reaching for the Swallow and Frog for the Masamune. They were the first two to jump to their feet, followed by Magus, who was all prepared to strike out with his magic but then remembered and grabbed for his scythe with a curse.

"Oh, look. Your groupies have come to the rescue," said Kelke nastily, thrusting Tarreiz to one side. He reached out with his left hand to send a burst of shadow-magic at Magus, power that knocked him off his feet but didn't actually harm him.

"Leave him alone!" Lucca shouted, readying her gun.

"And how could I forget Magus' little girlfriend?" Kelke continued to himself. "You're _cheating_, do you know that? You can't use a Mage to find me! That's against our rules!"

"Kelke - " Tarreiz called out in protest, but she was already too late.

"She _is_ a Mage," said Marle triumphantly.

Realising that he had given away a trade secret, Kelke faltered slightly. "Well, it doesn't matter now. You can find the Black Citadel, you can come in and find me, but you won't defeat me. It would be better for you if you didn't try. Go back. Go home. You don't belong here."

"If you give Magus his magic back - " Lucca began.

"I don't think so," Kelke laughed. "I'm having too much fun keeping him powerless should I choose to destroy him. What makes you think that he _will_ get his magic back, even if you should defeat me? Get out of here, Tarreiz," he instructed the Mage coldly. "This is _my_ territory. I don't want you here, I don't want any of the others here, I don't care about protecting this universe. Get. Out." He swept a glare over the others (it softened when it passed over Schala) and disappeared.

Crono went instantly to Tarreiz. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine," she assured him, getting to her feet. "He did not harm me. It is another of our rules - we are not allowed to harm another. And we are not permitted to intrude on the territory of another Mage if they have forbidden us to do so."

"You have territories?" Marle asked.

"Yes. Mine is Jeraska, which I detest. Tarkyn's is the Forest in which we stayed - that includes the Grove, but I could not take you there. Kelke's is this desolate plain - Derelict - and the Black Citadel." Tarreiz sighed. "I must leave you."

"Surely you can wait until the morning?" Crono asked.

Tarreiz shook her head. "Kelke has instructed me to leave his territory, and I must do so. You will not be able to see the Black Citadel, unless... Marle. Please come here."

Marle went. "How can we find his castle without you? Magus tells me that you said only special people can see it."

"And you are a 'special person', Marle," Tarreiz responded. "You are Mage-touched. You can sense the Mages, and we can lend you our powers. Close your eyes."

Marle complied and an instant later felt Tarreiz rest her hand lightly over them. She went a little dreamy and absent and then Tarreiz lifted her hand and said, "You may open your eyes. You will see the Citadel now, and can lead the others to it."

Marle opened her eyes but saw nothing different. "Thanks. I think."

"Are you allowed to tell us anything about Kelke?" Crono asked.

A slight hesitation. "Yes. I think so. His attacks are, in order of their power, Luminaire, Rainfall, Flare, MidNight and Cataclysm. He may have others about which I do not know. I have not encountered any of the other seven Mages for a long time."

The others were staring. "His weakest magic attack is my most powerful one," said Crono finally.

"Is it?" asked Tarreiz. "Then you _do_ have a problem. Watch for his hands - they will glow a certain colour and that will give you warning as to which element he has chosen to use. Get him away from the black pool. That is all I can tell you. I hope that you all survive this encounter... I really must go."

"Do you _have_ to?" Schala whined. "You were finally being friendly, and now that you've thawed, you have to leave."

"Will we see you again?" Magus asked her softly. He had been quite fond of Tarreiz, and had learned a lot of theory from her that he couldn't wait to put into practice.

"You may," Tarreiz answered. "It is yet to be seen. Get some rest, and trust Marle. She will see the way. Remember the black pool. Keep his hands away from it." She smiled at all of them and said to Lucca, "Always have faith in your friends and... others, and trust them. If you worry that you may lose them, it may not be likely that their... affection... for you is true at all. You will be happy," and to Magus, "The black wind is a double-sided curse. If you accept that those who are close to you will also be affected by it, you may learn to use the wind as a warning system. It may be useful. Get some rest," she said to the group as a whole, "for you will need it." She nodded to Schala, turned, and headed off into the snow.

"She'll be all right getting back, won't she?" Marle asked no one in particular.

"Tarreiz is very stubborn," Schala responded, "and above all else, she hates losing. She'll be fine. And you know what she said, we may see her again. We may. Come, let's get to sleep," she said firmly, and so they did.

Or at least, they tried. Their rest that night was not easy nor smooth. Just knowing that Kelke could show up at night and push someone like Tarreiz around for a bit before any of them woke up kept Magus awake all night and Crono kept waking up every half an hour for no apparent reason.

It was Frog who dragged himself up first and made the others get up. "Come on," he said to Schala, who curled herself up in a tighter ball and did her best to ignore him. "We ought to keep moving. Kelke knoweth where we art, and although I realise that he has the power to appear wherever we art I personally would feel safer if we were gone from this place." To Magus: "Rouse thyself, wizard! The sooner we arrive at the Citadel, the sooner thou regain the use of thy magic."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Magus grumbled. "Get off my cloak, Lucca," he ordered and rolled her off when she didn't respond. Standing, he picked up the cloak and brushed it down carefully before giving it a couple of shakes and then donning it.

"Lady Marle, wake," Frog ordered the princess and gave her a poke. 

She stretched, yawned, then looked at him and with a shriek scrambled back. Frog was shocked and a little hurt to see a mixture of horror and fear in her eyes. Vaguely aware of Magus laughing somewhere behind him, he reached his hand out carefully to the princess. "Lady Marle? What is wrong? It is I, Frog. Or Glenn, if a name will make it easier for thee."

Marle closed her eyes and tried to regain her control. "It's not you, Frog. I don't care what you look like, you're a friend and, because I know you, I'd like you if you looked like a big purple dinosaur. I saw... for a moment, I saw..." She opened her eyes again and searched his. "It's gone now. I... hey, I'm sorry for reacting like that. It's not you."

"What did you see?" Crono asked her gently.

Marle shrugged, turned to him, tried to smile for him. "Nothing. It was... nothing. Just a flash. I don't even remember it properly now."

Crono nodded slowly, holding her eyes, and decided to let it go for now. She did not speak of seeing anything more for a long time, but Crono noticed that as they walked, the young princess' eyes drifted continuously back to Frog. There was a look in those blue eyes of hers that scared Crono. It was a sad look. Sorrowing.

Grieving.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

****

Chapter Fourteen

On and on the party trudged through the miserable snow for endless days. They had long left the trees behind them and now on either side, and both before and behind them, swept a featureless expanse of a landscape long smothered by an oppressive white blanket of snow. It seemed to become colder, more bitter, with every step they took that bore them closer to the Black Citadel. A cold wind had picked up, a wind that for Magus and Schala and to a lesser extent Lucca was threaded through with the black wind. None of the three made a comment, preferring instead to deal with it in their own personal ways.

Marle squinted into the wind. Thanks to Tarreiz's little trick, she was the only one who could see the Black Citadel. It sat like an impurity on the white landscape, a forbidding black fortress that looked impenetrable. The princess flicked a quick glance at Frog as if to check that he really was still there, then glanced back at the Citadel and stopped dead.

Crono glanced at her, frowning slightly. "What? Is there something wrong?"

"No... I..." She shook her head again, unwilling to confess to the visions that she had occasionally been having ever since Tarreiz allowed her to see the Citadel.

"Are you seeing things?"

She gave him a dirty look. "What are you implying?"

"I don't think you're mad! It's just that... Tarreiz was a... prophet or something. She saw things, I think, like the Citadel, and she's passed the ability to see that onto you. I was wondering if she's passed on... anything else. What did you see that morning a few days ago? When you looked at Frog."

Marle shook her head. "I can't remember."

He didn't believe her but nor did he press it. "And just now? You can remember that, can't you?"

She could see no harm in telling him. "Kelke. I saw Kelke. Agonised or triumphant, I don't know. Don't ask me who wins, or if anyone dies. I _don't_ know."

Crono nodded. "How close are we?"

"Quite close. Either late tonight or early morning." She meant when they would reach the Citadel.

He nodded again, absently. As he tended to do when they were in the midst of something important, Crono had gradually become more and more withdrawn and introverted until they barely noticed him. He tended not to speak when he was in this kind of mood and it sometimes seemed as if he never spoke at all. He was too busy thinking to bother with speech, anyway. Trying to figure out tactics, what they could throw at Kelke before he wiped them all out. Crono didn't think that physical attacks could work, but what else could they throw at the Mage?

__

His weakest magic attack is my most powerful one.

They had stopped walking but as soon as Marle began the gloomy trudge again, the others picked it up. Crono studied the group briefly and suddenly it hit him. Of course! There was no way they could hope to defeat Kelke if they worked individually. However, they had the ability to work together, and by adding their power together they could surely match Kelke's, if not overwhelm it. Lucca's and Marle's Antipode, especially their refined third version, was fairly powerful, and there were some pretty strong three-person attacks, not to mention that seven-person one that they had worked out not long ago. Schala was almost a pacifist, but surely she would help them? Her brother was the one who was mostly involved in this thing, when it all came down to it. With the addition of her magic, they had a chance. Of course they had a chance!

__

'Don't think it, Crono,' he instructed himself desperately. _'Don't think it don't think it don't you dare just don't - '_

His weakest magical attack is my strongest.

"You thought it," he muttered to himself angrily.

"Pardon?" Marle asked.

"Just talking to myself," he explained before falling back into his thoughts. He needed to stop dwelling on that. If this was how he acted before they fought something that, although incredibly powerful and apparently long-lived, was still human, what would he be like when they faced Lavos? Well, of course, Lavos didn't have a weak magical attack that just so happened to be Crono's strongest.

If you were looking at it that way, Lavos probably had something much, much worse.

Crono shook his head to clear it of these morbid thoughts and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. Or on foot, rather. They had to reach the Citadel first, and then find Kelke. They would start with that seven-person tech - although Magus couldn't actively use his magic, it could be used by an outside source, strangely enough - and after that, what? Maybe some three-person techs - Robo and Ayla would be nigh useless when it came to attacks, but they could heal - and maybe when the time was right, Frog could drop a giant frog on him. Crono chuckled at the thought. That frog thing was a neat trick. Like Ayla's dinosaur. It would be good to maybe use Ayla to see how good Kelke's defence was when it came to physical attacks - but if Crono got her killed, he would never be able to forgive himself for it. He would have to talk to Schala and see what her magic was like. Probably something amazingly powerful. Magic Type: Amazingly Powerful, yes please. That _would_ indeed be nice.

They stopped for a midday meal and Crono suggested that they get some magic practice in. They had been lax with their training for a long time, and he seriously doubted that going in rusty would be any good. Marle obviously couldn't concentrate and after a while decided to sit out and watch. She was principally the healer of the group - Crono, Lucca and particularly Magus had always been the most magically powerful, but that task now fell on the shoulders of Crono and Lucca. Frog came in very handy for dropping frogs on people but was principally a swordsman, and also possessed the ability to heal (always useful). Crono knew they would be relying on magic to heal people. If they had ever brought any elixirs with them, they had been lost long ago.

Crono stepped back to study the group. Marle and Lucca were practicing their Antipodes, an earlier version to save their magic. Ayla looked bored. Magus was standing to one side rubbing his hands together, but he looked up almost as soon as Crono looked at him.

"Flea," he said, leaning on his scythe.

"Excuse you?"

"Flea the slimy weaselly little magician who crossed over to Kelke's side some time ago," Magus explained. "Wouldn't it be here? And if so, why haven't we seen it yet?"

"I forgot about him. Her. It."

Before anyone except Magus and his cronies even knew that Kelke existed, Slash and Flea had kidnapped the wizard for revenge against his crossing over to the side of the 'humans'. Magus had killed Slash then but Flea had gotten away, only to later return to the group at the End of Time and plead to be allowed to join. Unwisely, they had allowed the crafty magician to do so. In the battle to defeat the Cleaning, Cat-Eating Monster, Flea had sent Magus to Ozzie's castle and directly into the hands of Kelke (who was responsible only for blocking the use of his magic; it was Ozzie who had cut Magus' hair off at ear-length and broken both his hands, which were healing fairly well). Flea had disappeared, and they didn't know where he/she was. Magus' comment made sense. What if the magician was somewhere in this universe? Or in the Citadel?

"We'll deal with that when it happens," Crono decided. "How are your hands?"

"Better."

"Can you bend your fingers?"

"Some of them."

'What about straighten them? I mean fully straight?"

"Some of them..." Magus repeated slightly guiltily. "They're fine, I'm sure they'll end up healing perfectly. I can hold things, and that's what matters, right? That's what matters," he said as if he were trying to convince himself.

"Magus..." Crono had been struck by a thought.

"That's my name, don't use it too loudly around here. I don't exactly have many friends in this universe, let alone in Kelke's territory."

"How do you do your magic? I mean... well... Lucca spins around and... I can't think of any other examples."

Magus understood and said conversationally, "Chants, mostly."

"And...?"

The good evil wizard smiled ruefully. "And gestures. Generally very intricate movements that take ages to get right that you can't do if you've broken just your little finger. Only sometimes, though, and I can do most of my magic without using my hands at all."

"Oh."

"Don't feel sorry for me, Crono," Magus said coldly. "I wouldn't want to be pitied."

"Of course not," said Crono with a smile that he hoped didn't look forced.

"Good," Magus responded, turning away. He paused. "Oh, Crono?"

"Yes?"

"You may want to practice that smile. Your 'forced-smile-that-doesn't-look-forced-at-all' smile. Let's just say that it... needs a lot of work."

Crono gave him another smile, a real one this time, and promised, "I'll work on it."

"See that you do," Magus replied and wandered off to bother Schala.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Author's Note : Yay! I'm back, but it's not entirely official _just_ yet. ShadowMage is finished (for the second time) but I don't know how regular my updates will be. We'll see… I hope to get into a more regular pattern this time, but I can't promise anything. Not long to go until you get the end of this story! Chapter Fifteen 

Marle stopped, turned to Crono. "We're here."

            "We are?" asked Schala, gazing at the air before them as if the Black Citadel would miraculously appear for her. It didn't.

            "Yes." The princess took a deep breath. "I don't know what it will be like on the inside. This… Crono, we're heading for a battle that could make or break us. Kelke may very well kill us all."

            "He won't," Crono promised her tightly. "I won't let him." He reached out to stroke her hair. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Marle."

            "I think I'm going to be sick," Magus moaned. "Can we just get on with it?"

            "Yes. Of course," Marle responded with a brief smile. Turning, she took another deep breath and pushed open the gate, leading the others into the Black Citadel.

            There were exclamations from the whole group as they saw the Citadel for the first time. It was, indeed, black, the wooden gate in a state of disrepair. In fact, the entire citadel seemed abandoned. They walked past run-down houses and through wind-swept streets, heading always to the black castle that rose above the desolate city like a… well, like a very scary looking black castle rising above a desolate city. 

"What kind of a place is _this_?" Schala said to herself, and then was almost blown over by a gust of the black wind. "Oh, stop that, Captain Obvious!" she snapped. "Yes, I _know_ that something very bad is going to happen. I'm not completely blind, you know!"

The others had stopped and were staring at her, Magus with more understanding than anyone else. "What?" Schala demanded. "Are we getting on with this, or not?"

For about half an hour they walked cautiously through the creepy citadel. To their surprise, nothing attacked them on their way and they reached the castle almost easily.

            The castle itself caused more problems when Crono opened the door and was faced with a corridor filled with doors. "What the…? Oh, there's no way I'm going to wander lost in this place! Somebody fix it!"

            "I think I know where to go," murmured Marle, sounding as though she were trying to convince herself of this as she pushed back to her previous place at the front. "Follow me. It's… down here and… yes, I'm quite sure it's the door at the end to the right."

            They were faced with another corridor with doors everywhere on either side. "Left," said Marle and set off purposefully, going all the way to the end of the corridor before choosing the door on the left. She led them to the end of the corridor and hesitated. "Kelke is in the room on the left. I'm sure of it… I can feel him. We really need to work something out before we get there."

            "Oh yes," Schala remembered and moved among them, touching each of them in turn. Crono felt his magic rise in response to her touch. "I can't help very much in this battle, but I can restore your magic and shield you if necessary. You're pretty much on your own, I'm afraid."

            "When we get in there, we'll do the eight person tech," Crono decided. "Otherwise… just try to survive. At least for long enough so that Magus can attack him." He leaned on the door. "We don't need to rush this, we can sit out here and plan – whoops!"

            The door had swung open, sending Crono stumbling inside the room. "That was clever," Marle hissed.

            "It wasn't me," Crono protested.

            "The time for planning is over, Crono," said Kelke calmly. He stood facing them, arms folded, garbed in his white robes. A circular pool of some dark liquid was at his feet. "I warned you not to come here. This is not your place. Not your fight."

            "You made it ours when you harmed one of our companions," Crono told him.

            Kelke laughed. "Loyalty? To Magus? And do you really think this loyalty is returned?"

            Magus began, "I – "

            "Don't believe him," Kelke interrupted. "He's an evil wizard. We all lie. You know, I don't see what your problem is." He gestured towards Magus. "He is your enemy. I have defeated him for you."

            "He is _not_ an enemy!" Lucca shouted, lifting her gun threateningly.

            "Ah, the girlfriend," sneered the Mage. "So, Magus, you're _determined_ to become a good wizard?"

            "I already am one, thank you very much," Magus answered coolly.

            "In that case, you would do better to go without your magic, you know. Your power is like mine. Lesser, of course, but orientated to evil. For how long will you be able to remain 'good' once you have your magic?"

            Magus didn't want to give himself time to think about this. "What's with the chit-chat, Kelke? You scared?'

            "Scared? _Me_?"

            "Why so righteously indignant? You _are_ scared."

            "I would never be afraid of any of you," Kelke snarled and spread his arms, hands about level with his thighs. His fingertips began to sparkle black, a glow that spread up the lengths of his arms before enveloping him entirely. He disappeared for an instant, reappearing garbed in the black robes of the Shadow Mage. His eyes, when he raised them to meet Magus', were black.

            Crono drew his sword almost instantly, Frog quickly following suit. Marle readied her bow, Lucca her gun. Ayla put her fists up by sheer instinct. Robo hung back a little, knowing that his part in this battle would be more to heal than anything else. Schala had her hands resting lightly on her hips. Magus was leaning on his scythe, trying (and succeeding, by the way) to give off an air of confidence, Alfador winding around his feet. Before them all Kelke stood like a dark god, arms down by his sides. He raised his hands, crossing them at the wrist with his fingertips about level with his shoulders.

            "You have chosen to battle the Shadow Mage in his own territory," he pointed out almost smugly. "I hardly think that all of you are going to walk out alive."

            "I thank thee, wizard, for provoking the Mage," Frog muttered to the good evil wizard, and then the battle was on.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen 

"All right, get him with that eight person tech before he has the chance to do anything!" Crono shouted as Kelke's hands began to flash yellow.             Ayla could not use magic but they somehow managed to use her in the attack, drawing also on Magus' magic, denied to the wizard himself yet somehow still able to be used by the others. This attack would have weakened Kelke greatly but for one small flaw; Magus' shadow magic. Focusing on it, Kelke simply used it to increase his health, then knelt to submerge both hands in the black pool to regain the rest of it. 

            "Lucca?" Crono called, glancing over at his friend.

            Lucca had one of her inventions out. She looked back at him and shook her head. "I'm not registering any damage."

            "Of course you aren't," Kelke laughed and, from his kneeling position, returned his hands to that initial position – crossed at the wrist with his palms turned towards them. It seemed to be the position from which all of his attacks originated. This time his hands flashed red and he drew them apart to Flare the whole group.

            Of them all, Ayla had taken the most damage. Knowing that there was something strange about the girl but not realising that it was that she had no magic, Kelke concentrated on her. Keeping his left hand in the black pool, he aimed his right at Ayla and trapped her in a steady stream of pure shadow-magic until she collapsed, unconscious.

            Marle used Life on her and the primitive woman bounced up quite happily, ready to rejoin the battle.

            Kelke's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I see." He stood quickly, returned his hands to that crossed-at-the-wrist position, then dropped his left hand.

            "Crono, stop him!" Schala yelled.

            "How?" Crono asked desperately, infected by her panic, as Kelke's right hand began to flash grey.

            Schala rolled her eyes with exasperation and, concentrating, shielded the whole group. Cataclysm, Kelke's most powerful attack as far as she knew, simply bounced off.

            "You're not allowed to get involved, Schala," Kelke told her quite calmly. "The next time you do that…"

            "All of those here have something else yet to do," she responded. "It's vital that they get back to their own universe to complete their tasks."

            "Then you should never have allowed them to come here!"

            "Magus needs his magic," Schala shrugged. "That's what it comes down to."

            "Really?" Kelke held his hands up level with his chest, his palms facing him and his fingers laced together. "I've learned some new tricks since last we met. Shield this!"

            In one quick movement, he turned his palms to them and drew his hands apart. Marle cried out and fell to her knees. Frog dropped the Masamune (although he instantly picked it up again), Ayla doubled over, Robo was stopped in his tracks and even Crono felt a dull pain gnawing at his belly.

            "A little spell I like to call Malady," Kelke told Schala, confident in the face of her shock. "It will continuously drain the life force of those with the power to heal – apart from you, of course. They'll become unconscious eventually, depending on their healing skill. You never know. They might even die, and there's nothing you can do about it."

            Meanwhile, Crono had run (or staggered, at least) to Marle's side, everything else ceasing to exist. "Marle! Speak to me! Fight it. You're strong. Don't let him defeat you like this!"

            "I'm so tired…" the young princess whispered. "So tired. Just make it stop."

            "Crono!"

            Crono looked up at Lucca's cry. "What is it? Wait. Lucca, _where's Magus_?"

            Wordlessly, Lucca pointed. While everyone had been stressing over the healers of the group, Kelke had simply taken Magus by the cloak and had dragged him over to the black pool, plunging the wizard's hands into the strange liquid.

            "_Feel_ it, Magus!" Kelke hissed, his black eyes intent on the currently powerless wizard's. "Can you feel the shadow calling to you? It wants you back. And it would be so easy for you to just let go. Let go and return to the darkness."

            Magus closed his eyes to avoid Kelke's penetrating gaze. He could, indeed, hear the black pool singing to him. If he had had use of his magic at that point he would without a doubt have answered.

            "One word is all it takes, Magus," Kelke whispered. "One word, and you'll be home."

            Magus opened his eyes again and smiled. "No. I _am_ home."

            Kelke cried out and let go, clutching one hand to his chest. He glared at Lucca. "You shot me!"

            "No," said Magus again, rising to his feet. "I don't need darkness."

            "Then die with the others," Kelke hissed and, ignoring Magus for the moment, stalked towards the others. He rather neatly knocked Schala unconscious, which Crono thought rather indignantly was quite unfair.

            "What will you do now, without your unfair advantage?" Kelke queried almost cheerfully and crossed his hands at the wrist again, raising them in front of his chest.

            "I think it be time to retreat!" Frog called loudly.

            Crono glanced at him, startled for a second. It wasn't like Frog to run away. It was then that he recalled the advice of Tarreiz – _'Get him away from the black pool'_. "Yes, everybody, come quickly. Retreat!"

            The others – then again, the only ones left were Crono, Frog, Magus and Lucca – understood and darted out of the door. "Too easy for me," Kelke laughed to himself, following. Too late he realised that they had trapped him away from the black pool.

            "Tell me, Kelke, what will _you_ do without _your_ advantage?" Magus asked him scornfully.

            "This," Kelke responded and returned his hands to the usual position. He dropped his left hand. His right hand flashed grey once or twice or maybe thrice, then he made a beckoning gesture. This time there was no Schala to protect them from Cataclysm. Almost instantly he put his hands up again. They flashed black and he drew them down by his sides – MidNight. The attack after that was Luminaire, but it wasn't really worth it – it didn't do a whole lot. Crono and Frog had fallen after the MidNight attack, and Lucca was on her last legs.

            "He's falling back on his weaker attacks," she rasped. "Magus, if we're going to get him, it has to be now! Grab your scythe!"

            Kelke, realising that they had something planned and that he wasn't going to like it, made a break for the door. He made it through but Lucca grabbed him. Although he had been near the black pool, he hadn't actually touched it himself since the Malady attack but she was still surprised by how weak he seemed now. Perhaps he wasn't that strong after all. Perhaps he had been doing something else before that had weakened him. Perhaps he was holding something in reserve for some awful attack with which he was planning to get them later.

            "Magus, that fire thing. I'm going to have to do it!"

            "Lucca, we _can't_," Magus protested, readying his scythe nonetheless. "We're hopeless at it!"

            "Nevertheless, it's all we've got. Are you ready?"

            "No!"

            "Neither am I! One… two… _three_!"

            Lucca set the blade of Magus' scythe on fire. It actually worked, although part of the shaft caught fire too. He swung this at Kelke, who said, "Ow!"

            "_Ow_?" Lucca demanded. "We're not after a mere _ow_ here! Magus, we're doing it again! Why won't you just _die_?"

            Three attempts later, Lucca had run out of magic and the staff of the scythe had disintegrated in Magus' hands. He was casting a desperate glance in Lucca's direction when Kelke stepped back, holding his hands up.

            "I give in! Magus, you can have your magic back. It doesn't matter. Get out of my Citadel. You win."    


	17. Chapter Seventeen

****

Author's Note : I hadn't planned on posting this chapter yet, but I think I will. Kelke's giving up didn't really work for me either (it's out of character) but here's the deal. Firstly, I suck at battle scenes and I didn't know how they were going to defeat him. Secondly, Kelke? Surrender? Yeah right! Read on…

****

Chapter Seventeen

"You win," Kelke repeated and dropped his hands.

Magus glanced around. Schala was up and was rousing the others. He knew he should be happy, and he certainly felt a lot better with his magic back, but something wasn't quite right. "Lucca, run."

"What?" Lucca asked, confused. "But we won!"

"You believe he's just going to let us get away with this?" Magus demanded, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the room. "He _has_ to be planning something! I know this because it's what I would have done. If you hadn't stupidly dragged Lavos into it when you defeated me, I'd have brought the whole castle down on all of us. Is everybody up?" He counted quickly. "Marle, how do we get out of here?"

"Right at the end of this corridor," she instructed. "I'll lead."

Magus had long since dropped his useless scythe and was carrying Alfador instead. Marle hesitated at the end of the corridor to select the right door and Magus quickly grew impatient. "Hurry up! It'd almost be better to wander lost in this place than to let Kelke catch us!"

"I don't know which door!" Marle wailed and selected one at random. "I think we turn left at the end here, but I don't know!"

Magus weighed up his chances, dumped Alfador in Schala's arms. "Look after him, feed him well and let him sleep on your bed," he instructed and she nodded, eyes wide with fear.

"This isn't strictly necessary. You don't have to do this."

"Yes I do," he responded. "You know I do."

Lucca, overhearing, stepped closer. "What are you doing?" she demanded, aggressive in her concern.

"At the moment? Something I've wanted to do for a very long time," he confessed and bent a little to bring their lips together.

He thought he felt her lips tremble a little under his, then she found the confidence to respond to him. He would have liked to take his time about it – this was neither the time nor the place in which he had thought he would show her how deeply he cared for her – but of all things, time was the one thing that none of them had. Not here.

When he drew back, he saw to his alarm that the others were already halfway down the corridor. "Go with Schala."

"Magus – " Lucca began.

"Go with her! Go!"

She started to say something, shook her head in confusion, and turned to follow Schala. Magus ran with them for a short while, then began to gradually slow until he had stopped. He watched Lucca and Schala until they were out of the corridor, then turned to walk back the way that he had come.

Frog, noticing that they had a few too little people with them, skidded to a halt to wait for the others. He ticked them off mentally, including Lucca and Schala as they went past. "Magus," he muttered to himself and started purposefully back down the corridor.

Magus didn't have to wait long for Kelke to catch up to him. "I thought you'd do this," he greeted the Mage with a confidence that he did not feel.

"We think alike, Magus," Kelke responded. "More so than you even know."

"No, I don't think so. I can think outside the square. You only think in terms of revenge."

"I have a level of power that you will never reach. Not now. You could have been great, Magus, but you threw away that chance. And for what? A group of children? A girl with whom you think you're in love? You don't love her. There's no place in your black heart for love."

"I love, and far more than you could."

"You love enough to sacrifice yourself for her?"

"That, and more."

"I almost killed you with this once before," said Kelke, moving forwards with his hands held out. They, and then the corridor around them, flashed yellow. "I don't know what it was that stayed my hand. Perhaps it was pity. Perhaps it was admiration for your potential. You ruined that for an emotion that will never last. I guess that's just too bad."

He had his hands on Magus' shoulders when they turned blue, the corridor swiftly following. Magus was absolutely powerless to stop him as Kelke increased the intensity of his most powerful attack. His hands began to glow red, then black, and finally grey.

"Prepare thyself for honourable battle, Mage, or cease to harm my companion!"

"Honourable battle?" Kelke laughed, allowing Magus to fall to the floor as he turned to Frog. "But I am not armed!"

"Seek not to deceive me, for I have previously felt the strength of your magic," Frog warned him, holding the Masamune at the ready. "What hast thou done to Magus?"

"Given him his just desserts. What, art thou so desperate for punishment?" Kelke mocked him. "Please, allow me to be the one to give it to you."

The others had realised too late that Magus and Frog were missing.

"We all go home, or nobody goes home," said Crono grimly and ran at full speed back down the corridors. He hesitated, unsure whether if he would help or hinder. 

Frog certainly seemed to have it under control. The corridor was lit only with the uncanny different coloured lights of the magic that Kelke was throwing at Frog, who was deflecting them with the Masamune and attacking whenever he was given the chance. It was Robo who noticed the figure on the floor, illuminated only every now and then and very briefly as Kelke's magic shattered on the blade of the Masamune.

"Doesn't this Mage ever _die_?" Lucca demanded, helping Robo to drag the unconscious Magus safely out of the way.

"For Cyrus, as always," said Frog almost gaily as he danced forward. "As vengeance for thine unwelcome attentions to the Lady Schala, and this," at this he thrust the Masamune forwards as Kelke returned his hands to that crossed-at-the-wrist position to attempt a proper spell. Frog hissed, "This is for Magus," and leaned on the Masamune.

Kelke's feet became lost in a swirling black cloud. This anti-colour swept up him and, as he leaned forward to grasp Frog's shoulders, down his arms onto the swords frog as well.

The Masamune clattered to the floor.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Author's Note: Does anyone want to be really nice to Imania?.In other words, could I pretty please beg a favour from someone? For a story on which I'm currently working (a Chrono Trigger story) I would really like to know what the characters say while they're going to battle Lavos (and during it, too, if that's possible.?) I did it once before losing both the file and the game itself when my computer crashed and now have no access to the game at all. If nobody wants to do all of them, then just Lucca, Magus and Frog will do fine.? Please.? Or alternatively, could somebody please tell me where to go to download both a good emulator and the game onto my computer? Thank you very much indeed! I'll dedicate. um. the prologue to you. I'm not exactly sure if this story on which I'm working is something even I want my name on just yet.  
  
Chapter Eighteen  
  
Lucca wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and glared at the wires before her as though everything was their fault. The journey back had seemed much harder than the one they had undertaken to reach the Black Citadel. It had been, without a doubt, Frog's absence that had darkened their spirits. That and the continuous snow.  
Three torturous weeks they had travelled. Their progress had been greatly slowed by Magus, who was gradually recovering. Three days ago he had reached the stage at which he could continuously complain and he had not hesitated to do so. "Lucca, how are you going?" Crono queried, coming over. He had carried the Masamune since their abrupt departure from the Citadel.  
Lucca could still remember it. After Kelke and Frog had both disappeared, the very ground had begun to shake under their feet. Schala had shrieked to run, to hurry and get out of the Citadel. Crono had snatched up the Masamune and instructed Robo to bring Magus. They had barely made it out of the black gates when the entire Citadel seemed to sink into the earth. After that, the only path left to them had been the weary journey back to the Epoch and, with any luck, back to their own universe.  
"Not so good," she admitted honestly, blinking her tired eyes. "I appreciate Schala's spell to somewhat repair my vision, but I really need my glasses. I can't see as well as I need to, and I'm not sure what to do to fix the Epoch. I had forgotten that we'd crashed it, and I think the cold has damaged it. How is Magus?"  
"Still complaining. At least he's more on the planet now." Crono sighed. "I just wish we could do more for him. I know you, Schala and Marle are doing the best that you can, but I'm sure he needs something. If only we'd been able to find Tarreiz when we passed through Jeraska."  
"If only," Lucca agreed. She would have been able to tolerate Tarreiz had she been able to cure Magus instantly, but the strange girl hadn't been anywhere in the city. Those whom they asked said only that they hadn't seen her after she had left with Crono and his friends.  
"Take a break. You've been working on this thing for too long. Go and talk to Magus, he's feeling lonely."  
"All right," Lucca said with mock exasperation and rose to do so. She was now completely unsure of her relationship with the good evil wizard. That kiss in the Citadel had practically caused her heart to stop beating, but she hadn't been able to talk to Magus about it. She hadn't told anyone else, either, although of course Schala had been present to witness it. Lucca didn't really mind Schala knowing.  
She crouched down next to Magus, who was lying down as nobody would let him try walking just yet. "How are you feeling?"  
"Cold," was his instant response. "And lonely. And cold. And I'm hungry. And cold. Oh, and I'm bored. And cold. And have I mentioned that I'm cold?"  
Lucca glanced up at Schala, who said wearily, "He's cold. He's been telling me that all day."  
The young inventor couldn't keep back a smile. "So have you worked out what Kelke did to you?"  
"I know exactly what he did to me," Magus told her. "I haven't told anyone, because you're the first one to have asked. He used Oblivion on me. It's his most powerful attack, but he has to kind of charge up for it and it takes a lot out of him. That's why he didn't use it early in the battle, but it's also why he fell back on the less powerful attacks near the end and how we managed to get so far before he caught up. He needed the time. I was hoping we'd beat him out, but we couldn't. He used Oblivion on me before, as well. That's what he uses to smite people."  
"I remember you telling me how he showed up and tried to smite you in our universe," Lucca nodded. "What did Ozzie, Flea and Slash do for you?"  
"Nothing. They didn't know how, so they left me alone to heal by myself. It took me five months before I could walk again, and still longer to regain my full power. Not only have you wonderful people been doing things for me, but it wasn't as strong this time. I should be up and about again fairly soon. Speaking of which - "  
"No," was Lucca's firm response. "You're not getting up. I didn't realise Kelke would be so hard to kill! I thought he'd never die. Well, I'm going to go and get some sleep. I'll do some more work on the Epoch tomorrow. Good night, Schala."  
"Good night," said Schala quietly.  
Magus waited until Lucca had walked away before lowering his voice to speak softly to his older sister. "You know the truth, don't you? You know just as well as I do."  
"Yes. I know that it's impossible to kill a Mage. They don't die, they merely go. somewhere else. Do you think that maybe Kelke has taken Frog with him?"  
"Maybe. I guess I hope so. Him and his damn heroics! I had everything under control!"  
Schala gave him a Look. "Did you, now," she said, sounding unimpressed.  
"Well. almost everything. I don't know how hard it is for the Mages to bring themselves back. Do you know if Frog is capable of travelling the whole way with Kelke?"  
"I'm not sure. All we can do is wait and find out. Are you really recovering as easily as you tell us you are?"  
"Yes. .Mostly. I'm not getting any worse, if that makes you feel any better."  
"A little."  
"A-ha!" came a triumphant cry from Lucca. "I've got it!"  
"Lucca, weren't you going to sleep?" Schala asked suspiciously, rising to go to her.  
"I was," admitted the scientist, "but just when I closed my eyes I had an idea that I knew would work. And it has! I have the Taban-finder right here. Come on, everyone, we're going home!"  
"It's about time," Marle grumbled. "I never, ever want to come here again. I've really started to hate this place. But Crono - what about the other Mages? We've killed Kelke, but we still have to find the Eighth Mage."  
"We can come back and look after we've dealt with Lavos," Crono told her shortly. "For now, let's just deal with getting home safely. Come on, everyone, it's time to squeeze into the Epoch again." He glanced at his old friend. "Lucca, take us home." 


	19. Epilogue

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Author's Note: This EPILOGUE, which I am quite sure I called a _pro_logue in my previous post (slap slap, silly me), is dedicated to a Mr. Manguy, who very kindly provided me with what the characters say when they're at Lavos. So, anyway, here it is!

****

Epilogue

"What do you want with it?"

"I swear I wouldn't do anything to harm it in any way," Magus said with exasperation. "I just want to put the Masamune in a safer place. You can't carry it around with you all the time, Crono."

"I don't like the thought of losing it," Crono admitted, his hand wrapped possessively around the hilt of the sword. "It's all we have left of Frog."

"Please. I won't carry it for very long, and it will be safe where I'll put it. Trust me. Can't you do that?"

Crono held his eyes for a long while, then slowly handed the Masamune over to the good evil wizard. "Thank you," Magus said quietly and went to say his farewells.

"You're leaving," Schala noted as he went to her. 

"Yes. It's time. I'm over everything now, and if I don't do this now, then I never will."

He still walked with a slight limp, but the two weeks they had spent in the End of Time had done them all good in the manner of relaxation. Magus had his magical and physical strength back. His hands had been completely healed by the black pool, and the only reminder of what Kelke had done to him was his shoulder length blue hair.

The entire group had benefited from their break. They had regained some of their previous spirit and had learned to laugh again. Crono had also had them training both with their weapons and their magic in preparation for the eventual battle with Lavos, and he had given them all the chance to go and see their families or friends. He didn't have the heart to deny them the chance to see people whom they may never see again.

"Where are you going?" Lucca asked Magus.

"I'm going to get myself out of debt. You'll understand in time." He shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other, started to say something, then changed his mind. "Ah… look after Alfador, would you? I can't take him with me."

Lucca nodded, closed her eyes momentarily. "Magus… I – "

"Yes?" he prompted when she didn't continue.

"I… hope you come back safely. And soon."

"Oh," he said and smiled briefly. "Schala, take care of yourself, and no running off with evil Mages while I'm gone, all right? I'll be back. I swear."

"I'll wait for you," she promised him. "Don't be too long. And be careful."

"I will. See you later, then. …Um, goodbye, Lucca."

"Goodbye," Lucca responded uncertainly.

Wrapping the Masamune in his cloak to avoid touching it, Magus took a beam of light to the Middle Ages, then used a technique on which he had been working to transport himself directly to the place to which he wanted to go.

"Yes, ha ha! It _works_!" He contemplated doing a little dance to celebrate, but decided that perhaps he should just calm down instead. He glanced around to get his bearings and to check that he _was_ in the right place, then he continued on down the stairs and stopped.

"Hey," he said in a cautious greeting. "Nice place you got here, by the way. I know I'm be the last person you'd expect to be here, but… I just came to bring you a bit of news from the outside world. By the way, could you do something for me? I have no right to ask you for favours, but this needs your attention. The Masamune. It used to belong to Fr – to… Glenn… but he had a bit of an accident. There's no cause for concern. It's under control. Yes, he's the Hero now, and doing quite a good job of it. I'll just put the Masamune down here, shall I…? That's all very good, then."

He stepped back and took a deep breath. "Here's the deal. I'm here for two reasons. One is to give you the Masamune, and ask you to watch it for Glenn. He'll be back for it someday soon, I promise you. The second is for my own personal gain. I'm a good wizard now. Don't laugh! I _am_! I've turned over a new leaf, and – sorry? Okay, so I've turned over a new _tree_, if that makes you happy. And you're one of the things I have to put behind me. So… I'm not sorry for you. I'm sorry for Glenn, though. He never deserved that. He saved my life recently, by the way, and I'm repaying him for that. I'll get him back. I'll get him back for you, Cyrus."

That over with, Magus turned and walked away.

****

Author's Note : Have I mentioned that this is a trilogy, rapidly becoming a series? Because it is. Watch out for the third, _The Seventh Mage_, coming soon exclusively to FanFiction.net. Thanks to all of those who stayed with me during my time 'away' and for those who have only recently come aboard. Thanks for the reviews and generally everything. Don't be strangers! I'll be around with the partially-finished-as-we-speak (or don't speak) _Seventh Mage_ sometime in the near future.


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